Sentinel (The Lost Pack Book 3)

by Claire Cullen

  “Not tonight,” Thorn said. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

  Daniel shook his head with a shy smile. “No. I just thought, since it’s so cold and wet, that you might want something to warm you up.”

  He swung a bag off his shoulder and reached inside, pulling out a flask. “It’s soup. I made it myself. Leek and potato.”

  “Sounds delicious, thank you. But you shouldn’t be out here in the rain. Go on back before you’re soaked through.”

  Daniel hesitated, biting down on his lower lip. “I thought I’d stay and keep you company. Unless you want me to go?”

  Mindful of what Brax had said about taking things slow, feeling their way through it, Thorn decided this was as good a time as any to do some talking.

  “No, I’d like the company. Come on, sit down here next to me. This tree trunk is dry, it’s sheltered by those branches, see?”

  They sat side-by-side as Thorn opened the flask and poured out some soup. He offered it to Daniel first.

  “No. You have some,” the omega insisted.

  Thorn, never the biggest fan of soup, or leeks for that matter, took a long sip.

  “It’s good,” he told the omega, surprised by how much he enjoyed it. “Really good.”

  He offered the cup to Daniel, and the omega took a tiny sip. “It could probably use more seasoning. I didn’t want to put too much. I know some alphas, Sentinels especially, can be sensitive to spices.”

  Thorn was surprised to hear him say it. “Who told you that? Oliver?”

  The Defender was always reading up on packs, in the belief that the more they knew, the better protected they were. His knowledge had saved them more than once.

  “Um… it must have been,” Daniel said slowly, a shiver running through him.

  Thorn noticed his heartbeat kick up a notch and wrapped an arm around him, drawing him closer.

  “I don’t want you getting cold out here. Why don’t I walk you back to the house?”

  “Couldn’t we stay a while longer?”

  “Well, I guess a little longer wouldn’t hurt. Have some more soup. That’ll warm you up.”

  They shared the rest of the soup between them, Daniel curling closer and closer to Thorn as the minutes passed. Thorn set the flask aside, trying to work out how to start the conversation they needed to have.

  “It’s nice out here,” Daniel murmured. “Quiet.”

  “Sometimes,” Thorn agreed. “Other times, the woods can be a hive of activity. But the rain tends to send a lot of the creatures scurrying for cover.”

  “Me, too,” Daniel said. “When I don’t have you to shelter me from the rain.”

  Thorn turned to find the omega peering up at him hopefully. He cupped Daniel’s cheek.

  “Why did you come out here?”

  “Because I knew you were alone, and I wanted to be close to you, to keep you company.”

  Thorn stroked his thumb across Daniel’s cheek. “I know you’ve had bad experiences with people—with alphas—before. Sometimes, when people are nice to you, it confuses your feelings. You cling to them because it’s different, because it’s better than what you’ve known…”

  Daniel frowned at him. “My feelings aren’t confused. I like you. A lot. Maybe you don’t feel the same way, and that’s okay. Sammy and I won’t overstay our welcome, I promise. But I just thought… if there was a chance you did feel the same, it was worth the risk to come out here to be alone with you.”

  Thorn was relieved that Daniel didn’t sound like someone blinded by the slightest display of kindness.

  “Oh? And what did you think would happen?” he teased.

  Daniel peered up at him through his long lashes, biting down on his lower lip. “I thought you might kiss me.”

  Kissing Daniel was all Thorn had wanted to do since the omega had joined him out there. He tipped Daniel’s head up, holding his gaze.

  “You’re sure this is what you want?”

  “Yes.”

  That one whispered word was enough. Thorn pressed his lips to Daniel’s, taking it slow, giving them both a chance to get used to it.

  Daniel sighed into the kiss, one hand grasping tight to Thorn’s sleeve as he kissed him back. Thorn let his hand slide behind Daniel’s head, just teasing across the nape of the omega’s neck, and Daniel shuddered hard against him, surging forward.

  Their noses bumped, and Thorn had to catch hold of Daniel before the omega slid off the tree trunk they were sitting on.

  Daniel’s cheeks flushed a pretty pink, his gaze darting to Thorn’s and away again.

  “Was that… okay?”

  The hesitant way Daniel phrased it made Thorn’s heart ache. That alpha had really done a number on his confidence, in every way that mattered.

  “Better than okay, Daniel.” He stood, drawing the omega up with him and backing him against a nearby tree. “Every time I touch you, I never want to stop. I want so much more.”

  He tipped Daniel’s face up and kissed him again, deeper this time, long and lingering, until they were both breathless.

  “Please,” Daniel begged with another shiver.

  Thorn crowded closer to him, pressing him against the tree and using his body warmth to chase the chill from the omega’s skin.

  “Please what?”

  In answer, Daniel’s arms wrapped around him, tugging him in for another kiss. This time Thorn ceded control to Daniel. At first, the omega seemed uncertain, inching back until he could see Thorn’s eyes. He pushed forward again, tentatively kissing the side of Thorn’s mouth, and then full on his lips. His tongue swiped across Thorn’s bottom lip, and Thorn parted his mouth, urging the omega to explore. Daniel was hesitant, letting his tongue just touch Thorn’s. Thorn, unable to resist the chase, caught Daniel’s chin in his hand and deepened the kiss, teasing Daniel’s tongue with his own. He was rewarded by a hum of surprise and a low moan as the omega melted against him.

  He reached down and lifted Daniel up, urging the omega’s legs around his waist.

  “Let’s get you back to the house,” he murmured as Daniel let his head rest against Thorn’s shoulder with a sigh.

  The closer they got to Thorn’s house, the tenser Daniel got. By the time Thorn stepped through the front door, the omega had gone silent and still. Like a deer who knew a predator lurked nearby. Thorn paused in the hallway, then turned and carried him into the living room.

  Daniel relaxed a little on seeing their destination, lifting his head.

  “I thought we were…”

  “Taking things slow,” Thorn said. He sat down on the couch, his arms loosely encircling Daniel but giving the omega the space to pull away if he needed it.

  “I thought we were going to your bed,” Daniel admitted.

  “That’s a step we’ll take when we’re both good and ready.”

  Daniel slipped a hand between them, lightly pressing the heel of his palm against Thorn’s groin. Thorn couldn’t hide a groan at the touch.

  “I think you’re ready now,” Daniel said.

  “Standing to attention doesn’t always mean you’re going to march,” Thorn said firmly.

  “But I could…”

  Thorn tugged the omega down for another kiss, silencing his fears.

  “This is all I want right now,” he assured the omega between kisses, moving to Daniel’s neck and kissing his way across the sensitive skin.

  Daniel clung to him tightly, throwing his head back with a long, loud moan.

  Chapter Twenty

  Daniel thought Thorn was joking when he said all he wanted to do was kiss. But the alpha seemed determined to prove how serious he was. For the next week, whenever they were alone, they did a lot of kissing. Tons. Acres. It was, hands down, the most kissing Daniel had done since he’d been a bored teenager wondering what all the fuss was about. With Thorn, it was ten times better.

  They had yet to venture into Thorn’s bedroom, Daniel still tensing every time he thought about it. But he’d started to wonde
r, if the kissing was as good as all that, how nice the rest of it might be.

  So that afternoon, when Sammy was over having a play date with Jack, Daniel took Thorn by the hand and guided him to his bedroom door.

  “Where are we off to?” Thorn asked with a laugh.

  “Bed,” Daniel told him, not letting go of his grip on the alpha. But when he got to Thorn’s door, all his muscles locked up, and he couldn’t go any further.

  “Daniel?”

  “Give me a minute,” he said through gritted teeth, almost in tears from frustration. “I want this, Thorn. I promise.”

  “But maybe you don’t want it right here and now,” Thorn said softly.

  “No, I do. I really do… You could carry me inside?”

  Thorn turned him around, cupping Daniel’s face in his hands. “Not happening. When you’re ready, and not before, okay?”

  “But if we don’t try something, I’ll never get through the door.”

  Thorn sighed and nodded. “We’ll have to work up to it. Today, we won’t go in. But I’m going to open the door. Maybe if you see there’s nothing in there to be scared of, it’ll make it easier.”

  It wasn’t like Daniel didn’t know what Thorn’s room looked like. He’d seen inside more than once. But that was different from going in there, with Thorn, so they could…

  “It’s no good trying to force it,” Thorn said, swinging the door open. “You have to want it, mind and body. Right now, some part of you is saying no. I think you should listen to it.”

  Daniel peered inside, unable to identify what it was that set his heart racing—and not in a good way.

  “Even if it’s stupid and ruining the best thing that ever happened to me?”

  Thorn wouldn’t wait forever. Of that, Daniel was certain.

  “It’s not stupid, and it’s not ruining anything.”

  Thorn cupped his cheek, drawing his attention away from the door and to the alpha himself. He let Thorn coax him into a kiss, loving the feeling of the alpha’s mouth on his as he was backed against the wall next to Thorn’s bedroom.

  “It is stupid,” he insisted as Thorn pressed a line of hot kisses along his throat. “I want you so badly, but I can’t have you because of a door I’m afraid to walk through when I haven’t got a broom in my hand.”

  Thorn’s rumbling laughter made him feel warm, and a little less silly.

  “Some fears can be rationalized away. Others have to be chased into oblivion.”

  Daniel didn’t understand what the alpha was saying, but he wasn’t sure it mattered when Thorn’s hands slipped under his T-shirt to press against the bare skin of his stomach and chest.

  “You’re beautiful,” Thorn said roughly, pushing Daniel’s shirt up.

  Daniel swallowed a moan as the alpha crouched and began to kiss his way down his stomach. “What…”

  “You need oblivion,” Thorn told him, lifting his head to meet Daniel’s eyes. “And I’m going to give it to you.”

  Daniel didn’t know what the alpha meant but couldn’t do more than nod and murmur encouragement as Thorn’s mouth worked its way lower. It was only when Thorn was on his knees, his hands on the button of Daniel’s pants, that he had an inkling of where the alpha was taking things. But he couldn’t. Alphas didn’t do that for omegas. Omegas did it for them.

  Still, he readily agreed when Thorn peered up at him in question. The alpha undid the button, tugged Daniel’s zipper down slowly, then eased his pants and boxers away. The cool air made Daniel gasp, but that gasp became a long moan when Thorn bent his head and pressed his mouth to the base of Daniel’s shaft.

  Thorn eased back onto his heels. “Too much?”

  Daniel shook his head mutely, waiting to see what the alpha would do next. Thorn’s warm hand surrounded him, freeing him from his clothes. He was already half-hard, and he knew it wouldn’t take much coaxing to get him there. Harrison had touched him with his hands before, reluctantly, but never… never…

  Thorn’s mouth was on him again, his hot lips and tongue gliding their way along his shaft. Daniel clung to the wall, afraid his legs would give out, and holding as still as he could.

  “Relax,” Thorn chided gently. “All that tension is going to hold you back. Let it go.”

  He didn’t give Daniel any choice in the matter, parting his lips to take the tip of Daniel’s cock into his mouth. The wet heat was indescribable, and Daniel could do nothing but sag against the wall with a long groan of pleasure.

  “Please, Thorn. I—”

  The alpha took him deeper, his tongue teasing the underside of Daniel’s shaft, taking Daniel right to the edge… and over.

  He came hard, pleasure crowding him, turning his vision a hazy white that slowly blotted everything from his mind. When he came to, Thorn was tucking him back into his pants. The alpha’s hands caught Daniel’s hips as he stood, tugging the omega against him so he couldn’t fail to feel how hard Thorn was.

  “Just watching you gets me hot and heavy,” the alpha told him.

  He eased Daniel away from the wall, turning him toward the bedroom door, his arms wrapping around Daniel’s waist and chest as he drew him back to lean against him.

  “One day,” Thorn promised. “When you’re ready.”

  “When I’m ready,” Daniel echoed.

  He hoped that day would be soon. The fear he’d felt on looking at the door had faded to barely a twinge.

  He glanced over his shoulder at Thorn. “No one’s ever done that for me before.”

  “Their loss,” Thorn said. “You look beautiful like that. Your head thrown back, your lips flushed, those little sounds of pleasure you just can’t keep in. I could watch that every day.”

  Daniel waited a day or two, putting Sammy to bed one night before going to seek out Thorn. The alpha was in the living room, sitting on the couch, absorbed in a book. Ordinarily, Daniel wouldn’t have disturbed him, but he thought Thorn would enjoy this interruption. He snuck into the room on stockinged feet and sank to his knees between Thorn’s legs, resting a hand on Thorn’s thigh.

  There was a pause before Thorn lowered his book and raised an eyebrow.

  “Daniel?”

  “I thought I could return the favor. Even alphas need oblivion now and then.”

  Thorn stared at him for a long moment before putting his book down.

  “I guess they do.”

  The alpha widened his legs, and Daniel shuffled closer, reaching for Thorn’s zipper. He’d done this many times with Harrison. It wasn’t his favorite thing to do, but he knew it would give the alpha a lot of pleasure.

  “You’ve done this before?” Thorn asked.

  “Uh-huh.”

  He freed the alpha from the confines of his clothes, swallowing hard at the size of his cock. Eager to show Thorn how good he could be, he dived forward, parting his lips.

  “Whoa.” Thorn’s hands caught him, easing him back. “Not so fast.”

  He sat back on his heels and waited, assuming Thorn wanted to take control. Harrison was the same. He’d fist his hand in Daniel’s hair and…

  “Whenever you’re ready,” Thorn teased. “I can keep this up all day.”

  Daniel groaned at the pun, leaning in slower this time, keeping half an eye on Thorn’s expression. The alpha’s hands were on his knees, gripping them lightly.

  He wrapped a hand around the base of Thorn’s half-hard cock, opened his mouth, and did his best to relax his throat. The angle was awkward, his neck aching, his hands trembling. He felt Thorn’s hands on him again, easing him back.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “But I want to.” He did, he really did. The alpha’s scent was enticing, and Daniel had a sudden urge to know how Thorn would taste in his mouth. “I’m just out of practice.”

  Thorn ran his fingers through Daniel’s hair. “Would you like me to take the lead?”

  Daniel nodded slowly. That would be easier. He wouldn’t have to do anything except take what the alpha gave him. He wa
s expecting a bruising grip in his hair, but Thorn changed position instead, slouching lower in his chair and urging Daniel up a little higher.

  “Hold onto my legs if you need to. Keep your eyes on me. Not my cock. Me.”

  Daniel didn’t understand but did what he was told, happy that he might at least please Thorn if he did it right.

  Thorn’s hand caught his chin, urging his head up, and the alpha kissed him. Daniel melted into the kiss, forgetting the slight ache in his knees and the tremble in his hands.

  Thorn pulled back, cupped his cheek, and urged Daniel forward. “Open your mouth,” the alpha said softly.

  Daniel obediently parted his lips, glancing down to where Thorn’s hand had encircled his cock.

  “Eyes on me,” Thorn coaxed.

  Daniel forced his gaze back up as the alpha pushed closer, his thumb stroking back and forth across Daniel’s cheek.

  “That’s it,” Thorn encouraged. “Nice and easy. We’re not deep-throating here, that needs a lot of trust and a lot of practice. When you’re ready, just take the tip into your mouth. That’s all.”

  Daniel swallowed and glanced down. He parted his lips again, pushing forward to do what Thorn asked. The head of the alpha’s cock slipped past his lips, and the gentle squeeze of the alpha’s fingers against his cheek reminded him to look up.

  “Perfect,” Thorn murmured. “Look at how gorgeous you are, doing just what I asked. Can you suck, just a little?”

  Daniel obediently hollowed his cheeks, and the alpha groaned, his eyes closing. He eased out of Daniel, urging his head up to kiss him again.

  “So amazing, so good for me. Can you take a little more this time?”

  Daniel nodded wordlessly, basking in all the praise Thorn heaped on him for what seemed like so little.

  He parted his lips and took Thorn deeper, moaning as the taste of the alpha hit his tongue.

  “That’s it,” Thorn said. “Not too deep.” He eased back, making it easier for Daniel to breathe.

  Daniel hummed contentedly around the alpha, making Thorn groan again. Both his hands cupped Daniel’s face as he eased out, smearing precum across Daniel’s mouth.

  “So beautiful and good. I want to taste every inch of you. And taste myself inside you.” He kissed Daniel’s lips again, slipping his tongue into his mouth.