by Aiden Bates
“Can I—” I started, suddenly feeling bashful as I stared at Derek’s lips.
“Of course,” he said immediately, blushing a little himself. “I mean…if you want to, that is.”
“Christ—look at the two of us. We’ve got a baby on the way, and all it takes is one deep conversation to leave us stammering like teenagers again.” I laughed, rolling my eyes as I took Derek’s hands in mine.
“I guess we really did have a lot to learn about each other.” Derek ran his thumbs over my knuckles, tracing every ridge and valley. “God, and we haven’t even dissected all our childhood traumas yet.”
“We’ve got time. Three more days on the open road ahead of us. But in the meantime…” I smiled. “I really would like to kiss you, sunshine. More, too, if you’ll have me.”
Derek laughed. “Like you even have to ask.”
We moved together slowly, a little clumsy at first. I leaned in too hard, bumping my teeth awkwardly against his lips. He pressed his tongue into my mouth a little too fast, slamming it up against my teeth. But we took every bumbling movement of our mouths and fingers and bodies against each other in stride, kicking off our shoes and slowly shifting back onto the bed together.
The time, when we undressed, we took our time about it. First Derek’s shirt, then mine, bookended by a whole lot of making out in between. Slowly but surely, we gained a little more confidence. Like relearning to ride a bike, only this time, the bike had gears to shift. A slightly different braking mechanism than the one we were used to. It was an uphill ride, but as we finally settled into a speed that suited us both, the clothes came off a little faster. Socks kicked off onto the floor, where they’d undoubtedly be forgotten the next day when we packed up to head out. We teased each other’s jeans off, laughing like teenagers at the sudden difficulties unclasping belt buckles presented, then rolled around for what felt like the better part of an hour in just our underwear.
Finally, though, the tension built to a level that neither of us could resist breaking. Derek’s fingers curled beneath the waistband of my boxers, tugging them downward as our tongues tangled in a kiss. I grabbed for Derek’s just a few seconds later, working them off of him steady and slow.
Slow was new for us. Slow was something that neither of us had been able to resist each other for long enough to even consider before. We reveled in that newness, though, rediscovering each other’s bodies like we were trying on old favorite t-shirts, relishing the familiarity of the way we could make each other feel and unearthing a whole new set of emotions right along with it. I hadn’t expected the way Derek could make me swear when he kissed along my hips, moving across my skin with hot, hungry lips until I could’ve put my fist through the wall over how bad I wanted those lips to claim my cock as well. And Derek—the way he shuddered when I trailed my tongue across the veins of his own cock made my fucking soul ache with need of him.
This wasn’t lust anymore. This was something genuine, heartfelt. Somehow, so much more real. As I positioned my cock at his entrance, feeling the heat and slickness of his honey coating my tip, I saw a fresh new look in his gorgeous seafoam eyes. The desire was there—it always had been. But along with it was a slew of other emotions, things he’d either been repressing to save face or had just been too horny before now to even consider revealing. Softness. Passion beyond the simple, carnal needs two hot, sex-crazed men could whip up through hormones and pheromones and the throes of heat.
Fear, too—not of me, but of the hugeness of what was growing between us. It was one thing to fall into bed with someone because you were chomping at the bit just to rub your cocks against each other. Another thing entirely to cling to each other, exhausted and in love.
“I love you,” I told him, feeling the warmth of those words radiate through me to my core. “I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too, you gorgeous man.” Derek smiled softly as he wrapped his legs around my waist, pressing my cock even harder against the tight, slick pucker of his ass. “I love you too.”
I took him just as slowly as we’d taken everything else. Not exactly softly—I wasn’t sure that we could manage soft, for how good his body felt wrapped around the thickness of my cock. But this time, my every thrust was focused. My attention wasn’t split by how bad I wanted to hold him down and make him scream my name. I wanted to see him. Take in every little shift of his expression as I made him whimper and sigh, gasp and moan.
Our bodies moved together in steady hunger, every little buck of our hips and whispered sweet nothing building in momentum until we weren’t moving together at all anymore. We were moving as one.
“Come inside me,” Derek pleaded, his voice gentle and hushed. “God, Kaleb…I want to feel it again. Give me your cum—please.”
“Only if you give me yours,” I bargained, grinding my abs down against his shaft as precum streamed down from his tip, sticky and warm between us as we reveled in how fucking good it felt to be so close. So raw. So intimately bared to each other in the way that only two people so in love ever could be.
We came together—Derek half a second before me, the force of his cum shooting between us pushing me over the edge as well. I pumped my own seed into him as deep as I could send it, burying it in his ass the same way I had on the day we’d made our child. And all the while, between the kisses and the gasps and the moans of ecstasy, we traded our words back and forth until I couldn’t quite track whose voice was the one speaking them:
I love you. I love you. I love you.
And for the first time in my life, I felt like I really knew exactly what those words truly meant.
The next few days flew by as we conquered the road ahead of us, learning bits and pieces of each other’s histories along the way. I discovered that Derek’s mother had been the one who’d introduced him to country music. She’d played the banjo, of all things, plucking out old Johnny Cash songs for him from the time he was in the cradle right up until she packed it away for the last time when he was a teen.
“Dad was working more and more, and Mom…I think she just lost her spark somewhere. Started smiling less. Threw herself into her work just as much as he was throwing himself into his… I wouldn’t call them unhappy, but they’re more serious now than they were when I was a kid. If it wasn’t for this Bicroft business…” He smiled. “If it wasn’t for you, sometimes I worry I would have ended up the same.”
That left a smile on my lips and a spring in my step all the way to every shitty mattress in every shitty motel. Every single one of them creaked like we were going to pop every spring right out of it, whether we were rolling around in each other’s arms, making love or just tossing in our sleep.
On the third day—even though the crick in my neck made it feel more like the fourth or fifth—we finally hit Reno. Derek pointed out the Bicroft facility on the highway as we passed it on our way in.
“That’s where it all began,” he said, a hallowed tone in his voice. “Or at least, the chemical end of things.”
“The way things look, this conspiracy was probably cooked up in politicians’ boardrooms. But Bicroft…we wouldn’t be here without their hand in things. Either of us,” I agreed.
“A little eerie, isn’t it?” Derek shook his head. “I was in that building when they were brewing up that batch of botched pills. If I’d had any idea…”
“That you were that close to such pure fucking evil?” I scoffed. “It’s not your fault. Still…” I glanced in the rearview, watching the Bicroft facilities fade into the horizon as we left them behind. “Ought to burn that place to the ground for what they did to you.”
“We still might get the chance.” Derek checked the Google map on his phone, the address that Ernesto had grabbed for us glowing up from the brightness of the screen. “You think Randy’ll talk to us? Give us what we need?”
“You know him better than I ever will,” I reminded him. “But until we get there…only one way to find out.”
It was nearly nine o’
clock at night before we made it to our destination. Randy’s home was an elegant, modern two-story with a brick facade over the front door, all right angles and muted colors. Easily a million-dollar home—he’d obviously done well at Bicroft.
The question was, doing well at what exactly? And if Derek and I had our say in things…we were about to find out.
The lights were on, casting a soft golden glow against the dusky blue of the sky overhead as we made our way up the front walk. Derek rang the bell as I lurked just behind him—close enough that I could step in if things got ugly, but out of sight if Randy was the type to peer through the peephole before answering his door.
We waited nearly a full minute for an answer. Long enough, I was almost ready to give up on getting any answer at all. But finally, the door opened, revealing a tall, slender Alpha in horn-rimmed glasses with a glass of red wine in his hand.
As soon as he saw Derek’s face, he dropped the wine glass to the floor.
Then, he turned and ran as fast as his skinny legs would carry him.
“Fuck,” Derek swore softly, but I was already pushing past him.
Somehow, I’d kind of expected that.
27
Derek
I was left standing there in the doorway, mouth agape and eyes wide.
He ran? He fucking ran! Of all the asshole moves Randy could have pulled in that moment, none could have been assholier. Or more damning, for that matter. From the way Kaleb rushed inside after him, I had a feeling both of us were thinking the same thing in that moment.
Innocent people don’t make a break for it like that.
It happened in a blur. One moment, Randy was standing there before me, looking almost pleased to see me. Just like old times. Then in the next, something had clicked in Randy’s bastard Alpha brain that made him realize I wasn’t there to hear him Alphasplain the ins and outs of reproduction for me—or to offer to have his baby either, for that matter. Then, he was off like a shot, Kaleb darting after him and tackling him to the floor like a linebacker making a sack just before the endzone.
I’d be lying if I said that Kaleb’s speed and, ah, willingness to get dirty didn’t stir something in me. Randy hit the ground hard, and the way Kaleb pinned Randy’s arms behind his back while using his knee to keep Randy on the floor…
I was going to have to ask him to show me that move later, I decided. Gently, because of the baby. Probably naked.
“Please, just let me go. Please, please, please…” Randy shook his head, tears already beginning to form on his lower lashes as Kaleb whipped out his cuffs and tightened them around Randy’s wrists.
I wasn’t against Alphas crying or anything. In fact, I was of the opinion that more of them should learn how to cry when they needed it. But in Randy’s case…it seemed almost pathetic. Kaleb had tackled him, sure, but he hadn’t exactly pulled out his gun or anything. By comparison, it was good to know that I was at least a little better under pressure than the man Kaleb and I were about to question. More for my own self-esteem than anything else.
“Calm down. We’re not going to hurt you,” Kaleb grumbled, pressing his knee harder down across the backs of Randy’s thighs to try and stop the other Alpha’s violent thrashing.
“I know you’re not. It’s them I’m worried about. And if they see me with Derek—fuck! They’ll fucking kill me!”
Kaleb met my eyes, frowning. “They? Who’s they?”
“Fuck you!” Randy spat, continuing to thrash. He reminded me of one of those gators they’d show on Animal Planet sometimes, desperately trying to lash its way free.
But Kaleb was stronger than Randy. Like a sexier, less Australian Steve Irwin. And we weren’t backing down just because Randy wasn’t happy about the new situation he’d just found himself in.
“Randy. Please. Everything Bicroft is saying I did—it’s a lie.”
“I know,” Randy grunted, continuing to strain against Kaleb’s hold on him. “Not exactly my concern right now, handsome.”
Kaleb gave me a look. It said, Do you want me to hit him? I don’t think I’d feel bad about hitting him.
I shook my head, though. Kaleb roughing Randy up would only make our job harder. If we wanted to figure out what was going on here, we needed Randy to talk. And in my experience, a soft hand was usually better than a clenched fist when it came to getting people to open up for us.
Dropping to my knees next to Randy, I nodded and Kaleb shifted him up to his knees as well, keeping a tight hold on Randy’s shoulder and wrists.
“I know you were removed from Bicroft’s records, Randy. We’re really not here to hurt you,” I promised, echoing Kaleb’s earlier words. “We just want to know why.”
Randy gave a final thrash, one that only tightened Kaleb’s grip on him. Then, his shoulders slumped forward in defeat. “Fine. Okay. Fine.” His eyes met mine, murky browns slowly softening. “I’m so sorry, Derek. Of all the people who could’ve taken the fall for this…you know I didn’t want it to be you.”
I blushed a little as Kaleb rolled his eyes.
“Told you he had the hots for you,” Kaleb grumbled.
“Not exactly the topic of conversation right now,” I reminded him, looking back to Randy again. “I stole your keys, Randy. Stole from Bicroft, too. If I got you into any trouble—on top of all the trouble I got myself into—it was my fault. You don’t need to apologize for that.”
“No—I thought that was really brave.” Randy hung his head, unable to meet my gaze any longer. “Braver than anything I did at that fucking lab, at any rate. I was in on this long before you swiped my keys, Derek. Believe me—as far as fuck-ups go, flirting with you that day at Starbucks is pretty low on my list at this point.”
“You had something to do with the botched pills?” I kept my voice level, even though I felt a bolt of sudden anger shoot through me.
“They offered me money. A lot of it. Stock in the company, too.” Randy sighed. “Enough to hire a surrogate Omega for Alan and me. You know we’ve wanted a baby for a long time, and…well, it’s not exactly like either of us had the equipment for it.”
“Had?” The anger in my chest was quickly replaced with worry. “Did they do something to Alan?”
“No. No, he left when I finally broke down, confessed to him what I did. Christ—didn’t even realize you’d taken my keys at all until a few days after you both left town. He cleared out his closet. Only took a suitcase. Didn’t even leave a note.” Randy shook his head. “I guess he was just as ashamed as I was. Or maybe, he just knew that he’d be in just as much danger as I am if he stayed.”
“I’m so sorry, Randy.” I bit my lip, trying to pick through my emotions to find the right words. If Randy had lost Alan over this whole thing—and his sense of security as well—lashing out wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Compassion, though… “I’m in danger too now, Randy. Omegas everywhere are. Please, if Bicroft made you do something for them…you have to tell us what it was.”
Randy laughed bitterly, blinking back tears. “That much is obvious, isn’t it? They wanted me to add…well, add something to the birth control formula. Not all of it or anything. Just four batches. They said it was just for blind testing—that’s all. I had no idea…”
“Then you heard the news reports,” Kaleb guessed. “Omega heat wave hits eastern US. You’re not an idiot. You put two and two together—realized that your alterations and Bicroft’s pills must have been the source.”
“Not…not immediately,” Randy assured us. “At first, it was just an inkling. Then, I got it in my head that I should just ask. Bicroft commended me for figuring it out, if you can believe it. Wanted me to present the new chemical formula to some people—and before you ask, no, I don’t know who. I realized one of the vials was missing from my briefcase the day I was set to leave.” He gave me a grim smile. “Believe it or not, when you took that vial, you didn’t exactly do my life any favors—but maybe you saved my soul.”
I had to suppress an eye roll.
Kaleb didn’t bother. I could sense his anger just as much as I could feel my own, ebbing and flowing like molten metal through my veins.
Randy had tampered with the formula. He’d suspected that it was bad news—then, when it was confirmed, he’d been willing to become the face of it. Whether or not his moral qualms had finally kicked in after hardly mattered at that point.
“So. They gave you an out, then.” I had to bite my tongue just to stop from lashing out at him, but so far, it was working.
“After the vial went missing, they knew they were in deep shit. The plan changed. I said I wanted out and they seemed okay with it. Offered me more money. Early retirement. If I could keep my mouth shut, they’d deal with the rest. I wasn’t thinking about me, even—I was thinking about the baby. Alan and I had picked out a surrogate and everything. I figured that it would let me stay at home once the baby was born, take care of it, put all of this behind me…” Randy’s voice cracked as his shoulders heaved with a sob. “I didn’t realize that Alan had already left.”
“And you didn’t think that anyone might be hurt by your actions? That people might keep getting hurt thanks to your silence?”
“It was just birth control! Accidents happen all the time. Do you have any idea what I wouldn’t give if I could get pregnant?” Randy turned his head to glare at Kaleb. “No one was hurt by it.”
“Except for the Omegas who ended up with permanent ovary damage after their heat subsided,” Kaleb pointed out. “The Omegas who lost control of themselves, had sex with people they wouldn’t have otherwise, got pregnant with babies they weren’t expecting. Couldn’t care for. Couldn’t afford.”
Randy went quiet after that. Couldn’t blame him—if Kaleb had been talking to me like that, I would have, too.
“Yeah,” Kaleb continued. “That’s what I thought. So, the way I see it is, you confess and we’ll turn all this into the FBI.”
