by Piper Scott
Everything Sir said made Gabriel’s head swim, like his thoughts had to escape from thick syrup before they could make their way to his conscious mind.
“I’ll grow for you, Sir,” Gabriel promised.
Maybe, if he did, he could leave his pain behind.
21
Cedric
A week after Gabriel’s attempted escape, Cedric watched from the couch as Gabriel reached for the upper shelf in the pantry in search of the popcorn. It hadn’t yet occurred to him to pull a chair over from the kitchen table to stand on. Not that it mattered much to Cedric—he took selfish pleasure in watching Gabriel stretch himself out. The bottom of his t-shirt rode up his slender body, exposing the top of Gabriel’s hip as he struggled to reach the box. No sexual contact didn’t mean that Cedric couldn’t enjoy what he saw—and so he did, even when it made him feel a little guilty.
“Sir?” Gabriel’s cheeks were red, and when he turned to look through the kitchen doorway into the living room, he seemed both frustrated and embarrassed. “I… I can’t reach it, Sir.”
“You can.”
Gabriel lowered his gaze to stare at his toes. “I’m sorry.”
Since last week’s talk, Gabriel had been obedient. The small, simple tasks Cedric had asked him to do had been executed flawlessly. Gabriel was eager to serve, and the job he did was always thorough and thoughtfully done. When Cedric asked him to wash the dishes, he did so without complaint and went so far as to dry them and put them away when he was done. When Cedric tasked him with sorting laundry, not only did it get sorted, but it got folded neatly, too. And at night, when they settled in together for the evening, Gabriel was always docile and pleasant. He’d curl up against Cedric’s side and rest his head without pushing things too far, and Cedric rewarded him for his good deeds through innocent touch, even as his libido urged him to push things further.
Finding out about Gabriel’s troubled past hadn’t changed Cedric’s perception, but it had changed his attitude. If Gabriel had been abused—if his disappearance at sixteen years old was linked to Baylor and his vile brothel—then sex was the last thing he needed. No matter what, Cedric would see his omega’s needs met.
But tonight?
Tonight, Gabriel was falling short. The more he ducked his gaze and stood by his belief that he couldn’t, the more Cedric wanted him to see that he could. If he pushed outside of his comfort zone and performed in the way that Cedric hoped he would, then maybe he could forgive this indiscretion. All he wanted was to see that Gabriel could think for himself.
But he wouldn’t wait forever.
Five. Four.
Gabriel remained by the pantry, boring holes through his bare feet.
Three. Two.
He rubbed one ankle against the other, his hands folded behind his back.
One.
Gabriel stayed small in the doorway, nervously stroking his arm.
Zero.
Cedric stood and made his way to the kitchen. He was taller than Gabriel, and he wouldn’t have had any problem reaching the box of popcorn on his own, but resolving the problem himself didn’t satisfy him. Instead, he crossed the kitchen to stand behind one of the chairs pushed in at the kitchen table. “Come here, Rabbit.”
“Yes, Sir.” Gabriel crossed the kitchen to stand within arm’s distance of Cedric. He looked so small and so timid that Cedric’s heart broke for him, but he knew that if he wanted to help Gabriel piece himself back together, he needed to hold firm.
“I want you to take this chair over to the pantry,” Cedric instructed. “When you set it down, I want you to stand on it. Do you think you can reach the popcorn then?”
From the way Gabriel’s eyes widened, Cedric may as well have just told him the secrets of the universe. “… Sir?”
“Yes?”
“I’m… allowed to do that?” Gabriel glanced at the chair with frightened distrust. “I’m allowed to stand on it?”
“Of course you are. I want you to.”
“Right.” Gabriel ducked his gaze. “Okay.”
As he picked up the chair and carried it carefully across the floor, Cedric considered what he was going to do about Gabriel’s fear. Submission was beautiful, and it could be liberating, but in men like Gabriel, it was limiting. Cedric wanted him to listen, but he wanted him to be independent enough to solve problems on his own. Without a backbone, Gabriel wouldn’t get far.
The felt sliders on the bottom of the chair dampened the sound of impact when Gabriel set it down. He tested its balance, then glanced back at Cedric questioningly. Cedric leaned against the kitchen table, arms loosely folded, and observed.
What could he do?
No matter what commands he gave Gabriel, his little rabbit would always be skittish. He would always blush, and bide his time, and lower his head to avoid Cedric’s gaze…
Until he couldn’t.
The solution dawned on him, and he stepped forward to help Gabriel onto the chair. He held out a hand, and Gabriel climbed up onto the seat, took the box from the shelf, then tucked it under his arm. The way his hand wrapped around Gabriel’s felt right, and Cedric was reluctant to let him go when Gabriel was safely standing on the floor.
A boy like this is going to ruin you, Cedric…
Cedric blinked away the intrusive thought and let his hand part from Gabriel’s. No matter how he felt for Gabriel, he was a client, nothing more.
“I want you to make the popcorn for me. When it’s done, you’ll pour it into a bowl from the cabinet—which you will reach yourself—and you will come to join me for the movie tonight.”
Disbelief clouded Gabriel’s eyes, and he shuffled his weight from foot to foot like he was nervous. “I’m not… I’m not going to have my privileges take away, Sir? I failed you…”
“I know, Rabbit.” Cedric slid a hand around the base of Gabriel’s head and massaged the soft hair there, like he was so fond of doing. Gabriel’s eyes lidded, and he pushed into Cedric’s hand. The distance between their lips was small, and Cedric found it hard to keep himself from making it even smaller. The air thickened with his desire, and the touch of Gabriel’s hair against his palm left him wanting something he couldn’t have. “I’m taking away another privilege of yours, but for now, don’t worry yourself about it. I won’t be ready to deprive you of it for another few days. Until then, you’ll be good for me, won’t you?”
“Yes.” The word was curled with pleasure, almost purred. Gabriel’s head rested against Cedric’s hand as his fingers worked slow, comforting circles against his scalp. It was for Gabriel’s benefit, not his own. A simple touch wasn’t pushing things too far. If Cedric had learned anything over the past few days, it was that Gabriel responded best to physical stimuli. Contact like this wasn’t sexual.
Not really.
Not in the way that Cedric was starting to hope it would be.
His omega was gorgeous, and he deserved to be touched from time to time. Never below the belt, never on the lips, but elsewhere? There wasn’t anything sexual about that. Cedric wasn’t breaking any rules, and he wasn’t deluding himself into believing that a few tender moments between them meant anything more. Cedric was a professional, and Gabriel was his client—that was all. As a Dom, he needed to cultivate trust from his sub. There was no better way to do it than to play into what Gabriel naturally gravitated toward.
Constant physical contact.
Cedric couldn’t help himself—he crowded the space between his lips and Gabriel’s, and when he spoke again, he whispered what he had to say into the tiny space between them. “Then you’ll make that popcorn, won’t you? And you’ll bring it to me?”
“I will, Sir.”
“Don’t keep me waiting, Rabbit.” Cedric ran his fingers one last time through Gabriel’s hair, then took his hand away. Gabriel’s eyes opened, but the spell he held over Cedric, begging him to come closer, didn’t break. “The movie is ready—all I need to do is push play. You will come back in a timely manner, and you will do a
s I’ve asked.”
“Yes, Sir.”
A shiver longed to work its way down Cedric’s spine, but he resisted. He would not let Gabriel see that he wielded as much power over him as he wielded over Gabriel.
Not yet, at least.
That would be for another day. Tonight, Cedric had work to do. While Gabriel busied himself in the kitchen preparing popcorn, Cedric went back to the couch and opened up a search page on his phone. In three to five business days, Gabriel’s training would begin.
22
Gabriel
The bag of popcorn burned Gabriel’s fingers, and he winced as he tossed it onto the counter and blew at his too-hot skin. It hit the metal bowl he’d taken from the cabinet, causing it to skitter across the counter and clatter into the sink. Gabriel winced and pinched his shoulders to his neck, expecting to be yelled at, but Sir didn’t make a peep.
He wasn’t like Garrison.
Gabriel didn’t have to be so afraid.
The thought of it made Gabriel smile, and even though he was unsure what his punishment would be, he found that he didn’t worry. Under Garrison’s command, he’d lived in a state of constant fear and doubt, but with Sir, he had no worries. Every day they spent together reminded Gabriel that the life he knew and the life he now lived were separate entities, and it made him wonder if Adrian was right.
Maybe there was more to life than selflessly serving a man.
Sir demanded respect, and he asked Gabriel for things, but he allowed Gabriel to be selfish, too. Cuddles on the couch. Ghosted not-kisses on his forehead, or cheek, or shoulder. Tasty food and a soft bed to sleep in. What Gabriel gave, he got in return.
Everything except the knowledge of Sir’s body.
Bowl rescued, popcorn poured, and as many whole kernels fished out as he could find, Gabriel returned to the living room. Sir had turned off the lights, but the dim bulb over the stove and the glow of the television helped Gabriel see the way. Careful not to disturb the couch, Gabriel settled at Sir’s side and held the bowl of popcorn in his lap. The image on the screen was frozen, waiting for Sir to press play.
“I’ve brought the popcorn, Sir,” Gabriel said. He kept his voice low, not sure if Sir wanted to hear him or not. “What do you want me to do with it?”
“Set it on the table,” Sir instructed.
Gabriel leaned forward and set the bowl on the coffee table an arm’s distance away from where they sat. When he settled, Sir turned at the hips and lifted a heavy blanket off the back of the couch. He draped it over Gabriel’s lap and spent time making sure that Gabriel’s lower half was covered before he pulled the remaining portion over himself. The gesture was subtle, but Gabriel didn’t overlook it—the evening was cold, and Sir was doing his best to make sure that Gabriel’s needs were taken into consideration.
Gabriel was glad for the blanket, because the heat radiating in his cheeks didn’t stop there—it seeped into his groin and woke his cock. It was shameful to be aroused by nothing at all, but Sir had been so kind to him that Gabriel couldn’t help it. Besides, Sir was handsome. More than once since he’d come to stay in Sir’s house, Gabriel had dreamed about what it might be like to be his.
How Sir would feel on top of him, parting his thighs and pushing into his tight body.
How his knot would swell and leave Gabriel breathless.
How Gabriel would enjoy it like he never had before, and how if he was good, Sir might let him come, too.
There was nothing barring Sir from taking advantage of him. Every night for the past week, Gabriel had wondered if he’d wake up in the middle of the night with Sir in his bed, stripping him of his clothes while his erection bobbed between them. Long. Hard. Ready to fill him…
Every night, Gabriel had closed his eyes, excited for the possibility that it might happen—that Sir might lay claim on him now that Garrison was no longer in the picture—but it had never happened. Maybe tonight, while they shared the same blanket, it would come to be.
For the last five years, Gabriel had clung to the notion that Garrison was the only man in the world who cared for him, and that he was the only man who Gabriel could ever be happy with. Rescued from a household that had never appreciated him, and that had only become more toxic once he’d succumbed to his first heat, he’d been convinced that there was no other path for him. Being unloved was part of being an omega. He’d seen it happen to his brother, Adrian, who’d once been their father’s favorite before he’d manifested as his true self, and he’d seen it happen to himself, too. The withering looks his mother and father had given him when he’d come out from his room for the first time after his heat had ended, sweaty and exhausted, broke his heart, and their distance in the weeks afterward convinced him that there was no going back.
Garrison was the solution to a problem Gabriel couldn’t fix on his own. Getting out of the Lowe house had been reasonable. Even Garrison had thought so.
But Gabriel had never thought that he could find love outside of the man who’d laid claim on him—that there might be someone else out there who’d want to take him in and save him from himself.
Love…
Love wasn’t what Gabriel thought it would be. The future Gabriel had lost wasn’t lost at all—it just needed to be reshaped.
The love he’d felt for Garrison hadn’t been love at all, he realized. It had all the hallmarks of love, but on the inside, it was a hollow mockery. Garrison had never loved him. The realization was bitter, but Gabriel hadn’t shied away from it. He’d been burying his head in the sand since the first day Garrison had brought him to the brothel. What Garrison loved was getting his way, and what he loved more than that was money. To him, Gabriel had been a physical release and a paycheck rolled into one.
He hadn’t been the man Garrison wanted to marry. He would never be that man. Not unless Garrison changed his ways and opened his heart to Gabriel like he never had before, but that wouldn’t happen now, not even with Seth gone.
Gabriel didn’t want it to happen, anyway. Now that he’d met Sir, he knew better. What he needed wasn’t a man who’d tolerate him as long as he continued to do whatever he asked—what he needed was a man who would treat him with kindness unconditionally, even when Gabriel was bad. He needed a man who wouldn’t hit him, even when he was being petulant, and who thought of him first even when their needs were the same.
The future Gabriel wanted—a family he could take pride in, and somewhere quiet he could settle down—was still within his reach. All he had to do was re-envision the man who’d give it to him.
With Sir sitting beside him on the couch, re-envisioning wasn’t hard.
Every now and then, painful feelings rose back up to the surface, but he knew that was a product of habit rather than sincerity. With every passing day, the ache in his chest lessened… and the force that took its place increased.
Sir would take care of him. Sir would chase away the demons and keep the man without a name away. And as long as Gabriel stayed good, Sir would keep him. He’d never have to go back to his parents, and he’d never have to burden Adrian and Sterling again.
“Rabbit?” Sir asked. He lifted his arm, and Gabriel took the invitation gladly. He leaned against Sir’s side, and Sir draped his arm around Gabriel’s shoulders. The scent of him, as appealing as it had been on the first day they’d met, flooded Gabriel’s nostrils and sent pinpricks racing down his spine. He cuddled into Sir, unashamed that he was growing harder, and thought about the future.
If they started having babies with Gabriel’s upcoming heat, Gabriel could give him a large family he could be proud of. Beautiful black-haired babies with green eyes, the spitting image of their father. With the fair genes Gabriel had inherited from his mother, they would grow up into elegant, sophisticated individuals. Proud like Sir, but made gentle by Gabriel, they would break hearts and change history—and if they were omegas, Gabriel would not cast them aside. He’d help them find their forever mates, and they would breed beautiful babies, just like he
would.
There was no future sweeter than that.
When Gabriel was settled, Sir pushed a button on the remote and started the movie. Gabriel watched the screen without seeing what was on it. His mind was on the future, and what steps he might take to make it happen. Cuddling on the couch was step one, but if he wanted the family he’d dreamed of since he was sixteen, step one wasn’t where his journey ended.
He needed to get Sir in bed, and then he needed Sir to take his heat. The days were ticking. It wouldn’t be long before the first insatiable waves of arousal hit—a week, maybe, if he was unfortunate. Days, if he was lucky.
This time, Garrison wasn’t there to force him to take contraceptives, and the staff at Stonecrest weren’t on hand to suppress the symptoms of his heat.
He would breed with Sir, and Sir would give him the family he’d always wanted.
They’d be happy.
All Gabriel had to do was wait.
23
Cedric
It arrived in a discreet white box on the third day after Cedric had placed his order. While Gabriel hid down the hall, frightened almost to tears by the doorbell for reasons Cedric couldn’t understand, he picked the box up from the stoop and turned it around in his hands. It stood approximately half a foot tall, but it was light, and by the sound of the paper receipt rattling around inside of it, Cedric didn’t think its contents took up much space.
He brought the box through the living room and into the kitchen, then laid it on the counter. The transparent circle of tape that secured the flap into its corresponding slot shone beneath the overhead lights, and Cedric worked it up and off with the nail on his thumb. Padded footsteps down the hall marked Gabriel’s arrival, and Cedric heard the minuscule creak of the floorboards as he leaned around the doorway to glance into the kitchen.
“It’s all right, Rabbit,” Cedric said without turning to look. “It was a delivery. There’s no reason to be afraid. In fact, I want you to come here. This is something for you.”