Wes

by Catherine Lievens

  “But what if you’d never found me?”

  “I guess I would have caved in in the end, but not before at least another twenty or so years. Can you imagine how hard and lonely that is? To crave something deeper than a one-night stand, and to not being able to have it?”

  “I...” Wes stroked a finger on one of Taylor’s, but he never looked up at the man who was telling him they could have a forever kind of thing. He couldn’t, because there was nothing he wanted more, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to push Taylor away. “Yeah, I can imagine it. I know what it feels like, even if I’m not as old as you.”

  So many things had prevented Wes from finding love, and he’d given up on that for now. A spark of hope was flaring in his chest, though, and it was because of Taylor. Wes wanted what Taylor was offering him, lion shifter or not. He realized he should’ve cared a lot more about that tidbit of info, but he couldn’t bring himself to, not with the relationship carrot dangling in front of him.

  “Look, I don’t think I can.”

  Taylor’s hand tightened around his. “Why not? I’m not asking you to mate right now. We can wait as long as you want, even though I kind of already bonded myself to you.”

  Wes looked up. “Is there a way to break that bond?”

  Taylor’s face twisted as if in pain and he tried to pull his hand away, but Wes didn’t let him. The last thing he wanted was to have to tell Taylor the truth about himself, but he knew not telling him wasn’t an option. Taylor deserved to know who he’d bonded himself to. That way he’d realize just how important breaking that bond was.

  “I’m not saying I want to. I think you will, though, when I’ll tell you about me.”

  Taylor stopped trying to pull away and frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Wes sighed heavily and kept his eyes down. “I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen, and by alone, I mean it. I ran away from my last foster home because my foster father was becoming too interested in me in a way that made me uncomfortable.” Wes laughed sarcastically. “In hindsight, I might as well have stayed there.”

  Taylor got up from his chair and Wes let go of him. He swallowed as Taylor gently pushed him toward the side of the bed and clenched his teeth against the pain. It was worth it when Taylor sat beside him and put his arm around his shoulders. He pulled Wes closer and Wes cuddled against his side before starting again.

  “The things I had to do to survive, well the things I still do to survive. I don’t think you want your life-partner to be a—a prostitute.” Wes closed his eyes tightly. “Because that’s what I am. I started selling myself a few weeks after I ran away, because I had no other way to survive. I don’t even have a high school diploma. I can’t do anything, and this was the only way to have food, and a roof over my head.”

  Wes waited for Taylor to push him away, to storm away in disgust, but it didn’t happen. He was scared to look up, though. He didn’t want to see the pity, the disgust, not in Taylor’s eyes, even if it was unavoidable.

  “So the other night, in the club...”

  “I was looking for clients.”

  “And you found me instead.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why... can I ask why you didn’t ask me for money?”

  Wes pressed his face deeper against Taylor’s chest. “I liked you. I wanted you. I wanted to do it because I wanted to for once, not because I needed to.”

  “That’s because you recognized me, even if you’re human. You feel drawn to me.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “How old are you, Wes?”

  Wes frowned. The conversation wasn’t going like he’d imagined it would. “Nineteen.”

  “So you’ve been on your own for the past three years?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’ve managed on your own all this time?”

  “Uh, yes.”

  Taylor’s arm tightened. “Gosh, I’m sorry.”

  Wes tried to straighten but gave up when it hurt too much. He settled back down and sighed when Taylor stroked his hair. “What are you sorry for? It’s not like it’s your fault.”

  “No, but still. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I don’t think I’d have been able to survive on my own like that. You’re a lot stronger than me.”

  Wes frowned and ignored the pain as he sat up and finally looked at Taylor. “This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.”

  Taylor gently grabbed Wes’ arms and helped him get comfortable. “What were you expecting, Wes?”

  “For you to push me away, to decide you didn’t want to see me anymore. I thought you’d storm out of the room and I’d never see you again. But you’re still here. Why are you still here?”

  * * * *

  God, the expression on Wes’ face was killing Taylor. His mate was expecting Taylor to reject him and to be dumped outside on his ass, and that couldn’t be further from what Taylor wanted.

  “Because you’re my mate, and I like you.”

  Wes’ confusion was genuine, and painful to see. “You like me? Even after what I just told you?”

  Taylor gently continued to guide Wes until he was sitting against the pillows again. Then he pulled him close and kissed his forehead. “Even after that. I’m not going to say I’m pleased with what you had to do, but only because you had to do it, Wes. It wasn’t a choice for you, and that sucks.”

  Wes clucked his tongue. “Is it ever a choice someone makes?”

  “Most of the time, I guess not.”

  “And you’re not... disgusted by me? I’ve been with so many men, and I took money for it.”

  “I’m just sad you had no one to help you when you were sixteen. What would you do if you could decide?”

  “Like, what I wanted to do when I was a kid?”

  “Kind of. I know you didn’t finish high school, but you could, and you could go to college if you wanted to. You’re still so young.”

  Wes shook his head. “I can’t afford that. I can barely afford to pay the rent of my apartment, and it’s a dump.”

  Taylor hesitated, but this needed to be said, because he had the feeling Wes wouldn’t be able to go forward if he didn’t know it. “Don’t take this wrong, but I could pay for it.”

  Wes tried to rise again and Taylor wished there was a comfortable way they could sit together, look at each other, but with Wes’ wounds, it was next to impossible. “Stay still.”

  “I want to see you.”

  Taylor pursed his lips, then gently extracted himself from Wes. Wes’ eyes were huge when Taylor got up, and he kissed his mate’s cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, babe. I just want to be able to watch you when we talk.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “Watch.”

  Taylor moved Wes as gently as he could. He took the pillows behind him and put one of them at the foot of the bed. He kept the other one, then making sure Wes was able to stay still for a few seconds without hurting, he sat at the head of the bed, legs dangling on one side. He put the pillow on his lap and helped Wes to lie back down, his head on Taylor’s lap.

  They couldn’t hug that way, but they could watch each other, and touch. “So. I just told you I could pay for you to finish high school and to go to college,” Taylor prodded.

  “Why?”

  “What why?” Wes narrowed his eyes at Taylor and Taylor stroked his hair. “I told you, you’re my mate. I like you. I want you to move in here, mate with me, do whatever you want and be happy.”

  Wes’ eyes went huge. “Just like that?”

  “Just like that. I know it’s weird for a human. I get it. You guys have no guarantee of a happy-ever-after. We don’t either, not really, but the mate part helps a lot, and so does the bond. We’ll be able to feel when each other is angry, or unhappy, and we can use that to work things out. I’m not saying it’ll be perfect, but I’ll do my best to get close to that anyway.”

  “What if you decide you don’t like
me?”

  “There’s no possibility that’ll happen. I mean, I know of mates who ended up hating each other, but really, we’re perfect for each other. As long as we respect each other and work on our relationship, we won’t have problems.”

  “This is... gosh, it’s overwhelming.”

  “I’m sorry I dumped everything on you.”

  “‘S okay.”

  Wes blinked and Taylor could see his mate was tired. “I should’ve let you rest, but I needed to tell you about shifters, because there’s a way we can help you heal faster.”

  “You’re gonna say you need me to drink your blood?”

  “No, even though I want you to. Shifters aren’t the only non-human stuff out there, and a few of my friends can heal you, if you want them to. They can’t do miracles, but it’ll help.”

  “How does it work?”

  “They just have to touch you.”

  Wes grunted. “Nice. Tell them yes for me, huh?”

  “I’ll do that. You need to sleep now, though.”

  “Need to talk, though.”

  “Later.”

  Wes grunted again and turned his head. He pressed his face against Taylor’s stomach and sniffed. It took only a few seconds for Wes to fall asleep, which wasn’t surprising. But now Taylor was stuck. Not that he minded, but he probably should call Adrian or Jared and have them check if Noem or another Nix could heal Wes while he slept.

  Someone knocked on the door. “Yeah?”

  The door opened and Oliver poked his head in. He noticed Wes was sleeping. “Want me to come back later?”

  “No, come in. Wait, on second thought, can you get Jared or Adrian first?”

  Oliver nodded and closed the door. It opened again a few minutes later and Jared came in, along with Oliver and Sebastian. Jared didn’t even raise a brow at Taylor’s position, even though Taylor hadn’t told anyone but Ani, Darin, Sebastian, Oliver, and Dominic about Wes being his mate. He was pretty sure Adrian and Joshua had guessed, though, so maybe they’d told the doc.

  “Everything okay?” Jared asked quietly.

  “Yeah. I was just wondering, could Noem heal him a bit while he’s sleeping? I told him about shifters and everything, so it’s fine.”

  “I’ll tell Noem to come in once Sebastian and Oliver are done.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  Jared smiled and left. Sebastian sat in the chair and Oliver slid onto his lap, then they both stared at Taylor. “So?” Sebastian asked, his gaze flicking to Wes before going back to Taylor.

  “Err, yeah. This is Wes. My mate.”

  Oliver leaned forward and snickered. “You work fast. You already claimed him.” While Taylor had told them about Wes the night before, he hadn’t gone into details.

  “Yeah, well. It wasn’t exactly on purpose. I was a bit drunk, so when things went, uh, you know, I claimed him without thinking about it.”

  “What happened to him?” Sebastian asked with a frown.

  “He left the hotel room without leaving me as much as his full name, but apparently he knows Joshua, so when he was attacked he called him. I just happened to be talking with Dominic when Joshua came in to tell him.”

  “You told him, though.”

  “Yeah.”

  “He looks like he took it pretty well, considering he’s sleeping on your lap,” Oliver pointed out.

  “I think so. He has some big problems in his life, and I hope I can convince him he doesn’t have to face them alone anymore. We still need to talk about it, though.”

  “You’ll figure it out.”

  “Yeah. I hope so.”

  Oliver gave him a cheeky grin. “Sooo... who topped?”

  Sebastian made a retching sound. “Do you really have to ask those kind of questions? He’s my brother!”

  “Hey, I’m curious. You can’t blame me.”

  “Of course I can.”

  Wes snuffled and Taylor shushed the teasing couple. “Guys. He needs his sleep.”

  “We can come back later,” Oliver proposed. “I want to meet your Wes.”

  “You will.”

  They left in silence and Oliver winked at him before closing the door. Taylor tried to relax, but his position was awkward. He wouldn’t move for anything, though, not when Wes finally looked halfway peaceful.

  Taylor’s mind was still reeling over Wes’ revelation. He couldn’t understand how a sixteen-year-old kid could find himself on his own. How could no one notice it? Why hadn’t anyone helped? And most of all, how could the men Wes had slept with have done so with an underage kid?

  Taylor stroked his mate’s hair. Wes was so strong, and he didn’t even realize it. Taylor knew he was waiting for a rejection, but he wouldn’t get it from Taylor, not ever. Taylor might not like the thought of what Wes had had to do—and his lion growled and snarled in his mind when he thought about it—but he didn’t blame him for it, and he’d make certain Wes understood that.

  Chapter Four

  Wes wasn’t hurting as much as he had when he’d fallen asleep. He liked that, and he wondered if he could get away with sleeping some more, but someone poked his cheek. Realizing that was what had woken him in the first place, he opened his eyes.

  He’d thought it might be a kid, because who else would poke you awake, right? But nope, no kids, unless you counted the two guys standing by his bed as overgrown ones. One certainly looked like it, with his pink hair, electric blue sweater, and orange jeans.

  The other one made Wes blink, then cringe. He reached for the sheet, hoping that hiding under it would make Keenan and his friend go away. Someone poked his foot instead, then pulled on the sheet.

  “Doesn’t look like a guy who goes dancing to me.”

  “Why, guys who like to dance have a particular face or something? Like, you can tell what someone likes just by looking at them? Is that a Nix thing?”

  “No it’s not. He just doesn’t look fun.”

  “Might be because he was beaten, what do you think?”

  Another poke. “No need to be sarcastic, Kee. I was just pointing out that you said this guy tried to pick up Joshua, but he doesn’t look like much to me.”

  “Again, might be the bruises.”

  Wes huffed and pushed the sheet away, because Keenan and his friend clearly weren’t going away. “What do you want?”

  Keenan gasped. “It speaks!”

  The other guy poked Wes’ cheek and Wes batted his hand away. At least doing it didn’t hurt—much. “Go away,” he groused. He didn’t want to look at Keenan.

  Keenan hopped onto the bed instead and settled next to Wes’ hip. Wes groaned and contemplated smothering the man with his pillow, but he didn’t think he was up to that just yet.

  “This is Nysys. Nysys, Wes.”

  Nysys sat on Wes’ other side and Wes felt suddenly overwhelmed and like he should run away before things went bad. “Pleasure to meet you, bye.”

  Wes closed his eyes and settled back against his pillow, but a finger poked his cheek again. He sighed and opened his eyes to see Nysys prodding at him. “What?”

  “What happened to you?”

  “I was beaten by some guys.”

  “Why?”

  Wes shrugged, pleased when his ribs hurt only a bit. “They didn’t like my haircut?”

  “Or the fact you were close to a gay club,” Keenan pointed out.

  “Or that,” Wes conceded.

  “Joshua said you hurt one of the guys.” Nysys looked far too cheerful for this type of conversation.

  “Yeah, well, I wasn’t going down without fighting.”

  “Where did you learn to fight? Why did you have a knife? Do you always have one, like one of the bad guys in the movies? Or is it only when you go dancing? Did you have one when you met Joshua? Why did you hit on him?”

  “Jeesh, let the man answer,” Keenan told his friend. “He can’t if you don’t shut your flap for at least a few seconds.”
>
  Nysys snapped his mouth shut so fast and hard that Wes heard his teeth clang together. Nysys winced and touched his lips, but he clearly was more worried about obtaining answers, because once he was sure there was no blood or open wounds, he stared at Wes. Wes stared back without saying anything, and Nysys widened his eyes and tilted his head. He did it again, and again, trying to push Wes to talk to him.

  “What the fuck are you doing here anyway?” Wes asked instead. “Where’s Taylor?”

  Keenan’s eyes lit up. “Taylor? Why’d you want Taylor? Are you already over Joshua? Is it because Joshua’s with Adrian? How’d you meet Taylor? Are you two together? Is he good in bed?”

  Nysys reached over Wes and smacked Keenan’s forehead. “And I’m the one who should shut up and let him talk?”

  “You weren’t asking important questions!” Keenan protested.

  “I so was! Asking about knives is important.”

  “Not more than knowing if Taylor’s good in bed. I bet he is, and even if he isn’t, with an ass like that I’d forgive everything else.”

  “I don’t know...” Nysys sounded doubtful. “I mean, he does have a great ass, but it doesn’t mean he can use his cock decently.”

  “Unless Wes is a top.”

  Wes looked from Keenan to Nysys and tried to decide if maybe he was still asleep and dreaming. Or was it the painkillers? Yeah, it had to be, because there was no way these two guys were real.

  “Why are you two talking about my cock?” Taylor asked from the door.

  Wes wanted to weep in relief. He was saved!

  “And your ass,” Keenan helpfully pointed out.

  “We were just wondering who topped between you and Wes and if you made good use of that gorgeous ass you carry.”

  Taylor huffed and put the tray he’d been carrying on the nightstand. “Guys, you can’t ask stuff like that.”

  Nysys’ expression became rebellious. “Why not?”

  “I’m not asking you who tops between you and Morin.”

  “But you could, and I’d answer. I’m not ashamed of it.”

  “I never said you had to be ashamed, Nysys. Don’t put words in my mouth.”