by Marcy Jacks
The hands that scratched at his throat suddenly fell away. Lightning blinked, the haze of rage leaving him as he realized what he was doing and pulled his hand away.
Tim dropped to the floor suddenly, and without the strength to catch himself, he crumpled like a rag doll, but he inhaled sharp breaths.
Good. That was very good. If Tim was coughing and gagging, it meant he was breathing.
Lightning stared down at the man as he curled up on the hardwood.
This was the boy that had kept Lightning alive for more than three winters in a row. The boy who had fed him, brought him clean clothes and soap for whenever Lightning had to bathe in the streams.
The only one who hadn’t cast Lightning out when he’d come looking for help.
And yet he wished Lightning was dead. Tim had slept in Lightning’s old bedroom, was related to the woman that had taken almost everything from him, and he wished Lightning was dead.
Lightning reached for the man, ignoring Tim’s weak protests as he pulled him up into his arms.
Lightning was not a helpless child anymore. He was tall and strong, and now he had a bit of a mission on his hands.
He carried Tim upstairs. Lightning brought the man into his bedroom.
Tim’s eyes widened, and he stared at Lightning with genuine fear in his eyes as Lightning set him onto the bed.
“Don’t look at me like that. I won’t hurt you.”
“What are you going to do?”
Lightning stood straight, staring down at the man and trying to decide exactly what should be done.
“I will protect you from David if he still wants your blood. The only reason why I will do that, and why you get to live after you told me something as disgusting as what you said downstairs, is because of what you did for me all those years ago. Do you understand?”
Tim rubbed at his throat. Lightning had to wonder if it pained the man as he nodded.
“I understand.”
“Good.”
Lightning wet his lips. “You can sleep in my bed for the night. I’ll figure out what I’ll do with you in the morning. For now you can rest.”
Lightning turned to go.
“Wait, Lightning.”
He stopped in the doorway and glanced back. Tim sat up in bed.
“I’m sorry. I am. For everything. I was just—”
“Make no mistake about what this is.” Lightning clenched his hands to fists. “I am only doing the bare minimum for you because you once did the bare minimum for me. If not for that, I would throw you outside to that beta, and I wouldn’t care if he made you scream like a girl as he ripped you apart.”
“But I…I still want to make up…for what my aunt did and what I said…”
Lightning turned, allowing himself to fully face the man. He wanted Tim to see just how serious he was.
“You’ve just destroyed the only good memory I had of my childhood. That boy is dead as far as I’m concerned, and you do have a lot of shit to make up for. Not just to me either, but to David and his whole clan, and if you want to add the sins of that cunt to your tally, fine, I won’t stop you, but by doing that, you’re not even close to being finished making amends.”
Tim pressed his lips together. “I…I understand. I’ll do my best to make it right.”
Lightning snorted. “That’s only because you’re an idiot. There is no making this right. People are dead now, and my life was destroyed by the people you want to defend so much. There’s no such thing as making it right in the face of that. You’ve basically just signed yourself up for a lifetime of servitude.”
He was stunned when Tim inhaled a sharp breath, his brows coming together as his face set into a determined expression.
“Then that’s what I’m going to do.”
Lightning nearly gave away how impressed he was with that statement.
Impressed with its stupidity.
He turned and walked away before he had to watch Tim cry miserable tears again.
It wasn’t just Tim who was signing himself up for a lifetime of servitude. Much as Lightning wanted to be angry about the whole thing, and he was, if this was something Tim was going to do, then for the rest of his life, Lightning would have to follow right along with him.
He wasn’t entirely sure if he believed that the boy from so long ago, the one that he befriended and remembered, really was dead in his heart of hearts, but Tim was still that boy. Wherever he went, Lightning would have to go from this day forward.
Chapter Eleven
Storm took his mate back home. He purposely held the man’s hand, not because he worried David would get lost or anything but because his main fear was that his mate would still be so enraged by what he’d learned, that he would follow the scent of Tim all the way to Lightning’s house and start banging on the door.
Out for blood.
That didn’t happen, thankfully. No, instead of dragging Storm to Lightning’s house, David had to first walk over to Rey’s home.
David stopped before he could make it to the porch. The lights inside were beginning to turn on. Storm could see the outline of Rey and Aiden as they did whatever it was they were doing this time of day.
Probably getting dinner ready or something. Rey had most likely made great strides in calming Aiden down after that particularly painful discovery.
Rey was good at that sort of thing, and he was Aiden’s mate.
“You want to knock on the door?” Storm wasn’t sure if David wanted to come here to be comforted by the scent of his son, to confirm to himself that Aiden was still safe after the scare he’d been given earlier, or if David wanted to tell Aiden about what he’d learned of Tim.
“No. I just wanted to make sure everything was good.” David looked at the light coming outside through the windows, a melancholy expression on his face. “He probably already knows about Tim, doesn’t he?”
Storm pressed his lips together. He didn’t know exactly what he should say about that.
“I think he does. I’ll have to get the details from Rey about that. When we caught Tim, Aiden was pretty insistent that Tim was a friend, that he helped Aiden escape. I don’t know if he blames Tim for what happened to his mother.”
David shook his head. He was still furious. “When I found out there was a way to get Aiden out of there, I told him…all kinds of terrible shit. He wanted to stay with Em and I. He wouldn’t go. I said he was a bad son. I said we would have been better off without him.”
David’s breath hitched. As though he could hardly get the words out. “I just wanted him to get out alive.”
“He did. He’s here. He’s safe, and he understands.” Storm briefly pressed his lips together. “You didn’t know who would be taking him out?”
David shook his head. “We only knew there was a way out, that someone was sneaking out the younger omegas. Didn’t have a clue who it was. We just knew that, if the offer came to Aiden, Em and I both wanted him to take it and never look back.”
David looked at Storm. “Does it bother you? Talking about Emily?”
Storm squeezed his mate’s hand and rubbed his nose with his palm. “A little, but she wasn’t just your mate. You married her. Went through with the ceremony and everything.”
David nodded. “They took our rings when they caught us. I keep thinking that maybe that was for the best, but…if somehow I could have those rings back, I’d probably wear them around. I hate that because then I have to worry about whether or not that will hurt you.”
“You wouldn’t have to worry about hurting me.” Storm smiled. “You already scratched my chest up to shit and punched me in the face.”
David didn’t smile back the way Storm hoped he would. He cringed. “I’m still sorry about that. I never wanted to hit you, and that’s not what I am.”
“I get it.”
“I don’t care if you get it. I can’t believe I did that.” David lifted his free hand, looking shamefully down at it. “I never hit my son before. I never hit my wi
fe.”
“I’m not your wife, and I’m not your son.” Storm couldn’t stop grinning. “Thank God for that last bit.”
“I’m trying to be serious.”
“So am I.”
David looked at him, and he looked like a broken man. It put Storm into such physical pain that he almost didn’t know what to do with all of that.
“David, I am so sorry. For everything. If I could fix it for you in a minute, I would.”
“I’m not asking you to, and I don’t want that pressure on your shoulders. God, you’re such a young guy to get stuck with me. With my misery. It’s not fair to you.”
“You’re only a few years older than I am.”
“As of two months ago, I’m in my forties. The lifespan of wolves and dragons doesn’t matter. You’re still young. You shouldn’t have gotten saddled with someone like me. It’s not fair that I’ll be carrying around this burden, and it’s not fair that you think you should help me carry it.”
“You’re my mate. It wouldn’t matter what your burden was or what you’re suffering with. I’d always help you carry the load.”
He touched David’s cheek. “You’re not too old for me. You don’t even look your age, and as for your wife, for Emily…” Storm had to force himself to say her name. Saying it made her real, made it impossible to ignore the fact that she had come first and that his mate still longed for her. “As for Emily, I’ll take care of you for her. I won’t let you beat yourself up because I doubt she’d want that either.”
David finally smiled. “No. Probably not.”
“Then don’t put yourself through that.” Storm held David’s hand, getting to his knee. “I will do everything I can to be worthy of you, but I won’t try taking her place. I know I could never do that, so there’s no point in me trying.”
“But you’re my mate now.”
“And as your mate, I understand that you loving the woman who came before me doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong or that you’re mistreating me. Don’t you ever worry about that because I’m not going to.”
David’s chin trembled. When he lifted his hand to hide his face, Storm knew he’d said the right thing. He knew he and his mate were all right.
David fell to his knees, his mouth crushing against Storm’s.
Yeah. They were going to be all right.
* * * *
They went back to Storm’s house. Their clothes fell to the floor as they moved throughout the house. The stairs, the hall, in the doorway to their room, and then they were in bed.
Storm had thought of taking his mate in this bed ever since he caught David’s scent.
The man’s mouth tasted divine. His tongue inside Storm’s mouth, licking him deep, was a thrill that made Storm’s body light up with all kinds of life.
David pulled away from the kiss only to shift his body to the center of the bed, his hands staying on Storm’s arms, pulling him along with him. David spread his knees, and Storm took the hint, settling nicely between those strong thighs.
Their cocks slid together as though saying hello. They had so much more to learn about each other’s bodies. So much more to discover, to play and touch.
Storm couldn’t wait to do all of it. He wanted so much from his mate, wanted to give him so much that he couldn’t think straight.
“God, that feels good,” David sighed. He clenched his eyes shut and pressed his head back into the sheets.
When his lips parted in a sweet sigh, Storm had to lean in and kiss them again.
The taste, the wet heat, it was all so much and not enough. He couldn’t get enough of him.
“I love you,” Storm said, looking into the eyes of his mate as he said it. “I’ll never get enough of you. God. You have no idea what you do to me.”
He thrust his hips forward, pushing their cocks harder together. David shivered then bit down on his lower lip in a way that made Storm’s groin tighten all the more.
He grabbed David’s hips, pulling them up into his lap. “I just want to be inside you. All the time. I can never get enough of you.”
David curled his legs around Storm’s hips. “Then hurry up and do it. Don’t just talk about it.”
Storm grinned. “I think I like it when you tell me what to do.”
David lifted a brow. “You have strange tastes.”
“Come on. Tell me you want this.” Storm took the base of his cock in hand, sliding the head along David’s crease, briefly pressing the head of his cock against the man’s hole.
The slight widening of David’s eyes and the brief shiver of his body let Storm know he was doing everything right.
“Come on, baby, you know you want this.”
David glared at him, his voice coming out slow and dangerous. “Yes, that’s why I’m naked and beneath you.”
“So tell me you want this.”
“This isn’t you wanting me to boss you around in bed. This is you wanting me to beg you to fuck me.”
“Same difference.”
“Not really—oh!”
Storm enjoyed this too much. Maybe it was a touch unfair to his new mate to be teasing him like this when they both wanted nothing more than to be one.
“Tell me,” Storm said, and now he was the one begging. He needed to hear it. He needed to hear his mate tell him how much he wanted him.
“Hurry up and fuck me.” David glared at him again. “Before I change my mind.”
Storm grinned, recognizing the threat for what it was.
Empty.
At the same time, he appreciated the effort his mate put into it.
Storm grabbed his mate by his ears, pulling him forward as Storm came down, crushing their lips together as he thrust inside.
David groaned. He was still tight, his body still not entirely used to taking in another man, but Storm also felt the quick acceptance, the sweet sigh that came from David when his body no longer fought the intrusion.
“God,” David said. “Don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”
“Next time you can do it to me, and then I can know what it feels like.”
David blinked up at him, as if he hadn’t seen the offer coming from a mile away.
Then he grinned, and because he grinned, Storm did, too. He smiled and kissed his mate as he fucked into him. David’s arms came around him, holding him tightly, as though he could hardly bear the small distance between their chests.
David’s hands soon roamed to the back of Storm’s neck and then his head, holding his face in place so their mouths hardly parted.
David kissed Storm as though he couldn’t breathe without his lips. As though he needed his mouth.
And Storm knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he needed David’s mouth.
He canted his hips forward, groaning softly as the clenching heat of David’s body gripped him tight with each forward and backward stroke.
He was perfect. Flaws and everything. All his pain, all his suffering, Storm would take it into himself if he could so David never had to feel it ever again.
Since he couldn’t, this would be the next best thing.
“Oh fuck, harder. Storm, ah God, harder.”
Storm complied. He changed the angle of his hips, figuring that would help a little, as well.
It did. David’s eyes popped wide open, his spine bowing as he gripped his claws into Storm’s shoulders and shouted.
Storm didn’t care. He didn’t feel the pain. He only felt that his mate was pleased, and so he kept going.
“Like that?”
David nodded, his eyes still wide, as though he were looking through Storm instead of at him.
“Just like that.”
“Push your hips back against mine.” Storm picked himself up off of David, propping himself up with his hands. “Move with me.”
David nodded. His hands were stronger than Storm had previously realized. They held tightly to Storm’s waist as the man proceeded to thrust his ass back against Storm’s hips. The push and
pull of their bodies was striking, and lewd noises filled the air as their bodies slapped together again and again.
Storm wanted to imprint himself inside of David so he never felt as though he was apart from him.
He had to wonder if David was sure he’d never had this kind of experience with a man before. Not that he thought the man was lying or anything, but David seemed to really know what he was doing as he reached up and played with Storm’s nipples, pinching them, tweaking them. Everything the man did, everywhere his hands touched and stroked left behind scorching marks. They wouldn’t scar, and Storm wouldn’t be able to see them in a mirror, but he got the impression he would always be able to feel them.
“I’m close. S-Storm, I’m coming.”
“Me too.”
He felt that pleasure building against his toes. He tried to release it throughout the rest of his body instead of letting it build. He wanted to hold it back, wanted to keep this going for as long as possible.
But he couldn’t seem to make that a reality. He was stuck. He had to let it go. His body wouldn’t allow him to keep all that pleasure bottled inside.
“Oh, baby,” Storm groaned, fucking harder and faster into his mate, the rush of his orgasm upon him.
David clenched Storm tight as he came deep inside David’s body, putting his seed in him, and his scent. Storm fucked into the other man to milk the last of his pleasure and then breathed a relieved, and pleasured, sigh when he felt the warm rush of heat between their bodies.
David’s body clenched around Storm’s cock so tightly he almost collapsed on top of the man from the shock of it.
David shouted long and loud. He made a noise that sounded in the ballpark of a howl, and Storm smiled.
Of course his wolf would howl for him. It was only appropriate.
* * * *
“What will you do about Aiden?”
They were lying together just then, still naked in bed, curled up with David resting on Storm’s chest.
Storm had his fingers grazing the man’s back and his hair. He wanted to touch every little bit of him, and he couldn’t seem to get enough even when they were resting.
