Ripples of Threat

by Rebecca James

  And with all the sex Canaan had had in his life, he’d only recently skirted the perimeters of what truly set his body and mind ablaze. Duncan’s insistence on dominating him in the boldest and most forthright manner had the beta in a state of constant need.

  He cracked the knuckles of first one hand and then the other and shook out the tension in his arms before knocking on Duncan’s front door.

  “Come in,” Duncan called from inside.

  The alpha’s voice literally made Canaan’s knees weak. Canaan pushed open the door and looked around. The house was dark with only a few lit candles above the fireplace. Canaan’s cock jerked when his eyes lit upon Duncan lounging on the sofa, honed body nude and relaxed. The man certainly was a fine specimen of an alpha.

  “What are you waiting for? Close the door and come over here,” Duncan ordered.

  Immediately, Canaan was hard as a rock. Not for the first time, the beta realized being told what to do by this alpha felt nothing like it had when Stone had ordered him about. Canaan closed the door and walked toward the couch.

  A slow, seductive smile stretched Duncan’s lips as the alpha raised one knee to fully expose his sizable package to the beta’s eyes. “Like what you see?”

  Canaan could only nod.

  Duncan reached down and hefted his heavy balls. Above them, the alpha’s phallus curved upward in a long arch, the blunt tip shiny with pre-cum. Canaan wondered if Duncan had been playing with himself or if the beta’s presence had spurred the hard-on. He liked to think the latter.

  “Get a good look, because I’m about to cover it all up,” Duncan said, waggling his cock before swinging his legs over the side of the couch and reaching under the sofa cushion. The alpha pulled out a pair of briefs. When Duncan had put them on, Canaan found the sight of the alpha’s large cock stretching the thin material almost as provocative as the nude version.

  The alpha got to his feet and reached around Canaan to pull a shirt and pants off a chair. The strong, woodsy sent of the alpha made Canaan light-headed. “Strip.”

  With trembling fingers, Canaan obeyed while Duncan watched. When the beta was naked, Duncan pulled a straight-backed chair to the center of the room and sat down.

  Canaan’s mouth had gone dry the moment he’d entered the house, and he struggled to swallow.

  “Do you know why you’re being punished?” Duncan asked, one blond brow arching.

  Canaan’s legs were as weak as reeds. He glanced up from where his gaze had been trained on the floor and looked at the alpha’s stern face. “Because I called you a name.”

  “What else?”

  Canaan thought about it. “I gave you an order. And I made you come before you wanted to.”

  His answer may have been a little too astute for the alpha, if Duncan’s deep frown was anything to go by. Well, Canaan thought, that’s just too bad. He wasn’t about to hide his intelligence just to stroke the alpha’s pride.

  A second later, the alpha barked out another order. “Over my knees. Now.”

  It felt both shameful and titillating to drape his naked body over the alpha’s lap, especially when Duncan’s body was clothed and Canaan’s wasn’t. The beta had to consider the titillation very well could have been due to the shame, and he realized something else about himself: he wanted this punishment. The beta had always had a sharp tongue, but all the dressing down in the world by an alpha wasn’t as satisfying as the thought of chastising from someone he trusted. And, remarkably, he did trust Duncan.

  Another thought occurred to Canaan. Perhaps this need inside him was the reason for the beta’s long-ago sparks of jealousy when he’d been forced to witness Justin’s punishments at Stone’s hands. At the time, Canaan had been sickened at himself, unable to understand why the omega’s treatment at the hands of their alpha had lit a fire within his loins. Why a part of him had secretly wished to be the one receiving the blows.

  Knowing he wasn’t some sick asshole who got off on seeing a defenseless, pregnant omega suffer went a long way in mending the beta’s broken psyche.

  With a contented sigh, Canaan pushed his ass high, and Duncan’s sharp intake of breath was the beta’s reward. Oh, yes. Canaan knew who really had the power in this exchange.

  Duncan did, too, judging from the tightness in the alpha’s voice. “Count the strikes.”

  The first came down before Canaan had time to take a breath.

  Smack.

  “One,” Canaan said. Immediately the next blow fell. One after another, barely allowing the beta time to get the number out in between, until the tingling in Canaan’s ass became a deep burn. After fifteen strikes, Canaan was ready to beg for them to stop. His pride kept him silent.

  “Twenty-five.” Tears stood in the beta’s eyes, blurring his view of the hardwood floor. He tasted blood on his bottom lip from biting it so hard.

  Rather than another strike, the alpha’s hand glided over Canaan’s stinging skin. The beta sucked in a breath when thick fingers traced down the line of his crack. His aching cock was pinned between the alpha’s thick thighs, and if that wasn’t proof the beta was a masochist, he didn’t know what was. The scratch of denim against the sensitive skin of Canaan’s cock was making him crazy. He waited in breathless anticipation while Duncan lifted each ass cheek as though weighing them.

  “You won’t ever call me a name or presume to order me again,” Duncan said. “If you should, the punishment will double.”

  If Canaan had had plans to make the same mistake twice, they would have disintegrated in the face of doubling what he’d just experienced. He nodded.

  “Words,” Duncan barked, although he hadn’t asked a question for Canaan to answer.

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, Alpha,” Duncan corrected.

  Canaan gritted his teeth. “Yes, Alpha.”

  “Good.” Duncan resumed running his hand over Canaan’s sore ass, occasionally dipping his fingers between the hot cheeks. When the pad of a finger touched Canaan’s hole, the beta stiffened in anticipation.

  “You’ve pleased me,” Duncan said throatily.

  Warmth filled the beta’s chest at the words. Had anyone ever said them before Duncan?

  The breech of his tender furl by a thick digit was gentle and steady. Canaan closed his eyes and relaxed as much as he could, pinned as he was to Duncan’s lap.

  “You like me inside you, don’t you? Any part of me you can get.”

  Canaan moaned in answer. It was true. The slide of Duncan’s finger already had the beta quivering in need. When the alpha began to fuck him with the digit, Canaan let out a long moan and lifted his ass as much as he could. Duncan loosened his hold on the beta’s cock, allowing Canaan to fuck between the alpha’s muscular thighs.

  The world quickly disappeared as sensation took over. Distantly, Canaan heard his own cries every time the alpha swiped over the beta’s swollen prostate, felt the alpha’s hard cock trapped beneath a layer of denim, saw the lights dancing behind his eyes as blessed nirvana swept over him, making him quake. With something between a squeal and a shout, the beta stiffened, body jerking through a series of waves so powerfully pleasurable, the room tilted and time seemed to stop.

  When Canaan hung limp over the alpha’s lap, balls empty and body drained, strong hands lifted him. The room spun, and seconds later, the beta found himself lying on soft cushions, staring down in addled amazement as Duncan licked him clean. Was this tender man the same alpha who’d sucked him dry against a wall, fucked him over a fence, and spanked him until he wept?

  When Duncan finished, the alpha briefly met Canaan’s eyes before getting to his feet and spreading a blanket over the beta’s nude form.

  “Sleep,” the alpha said, before leaving Canaan in the silent room with the flickering of candles casting strange shadows on the walls.

  Chapter 33: Vincent

  Vincent lay panting on the bed, his alpha massaging the omega’s feet as they waited for the next pain to hit. Vincent’s labor pains were stronger th
an he remembered from Jasper’s birth, some of them threatening to break the omega in two with their force.

  Kale’s eyes were calm when the alpha looked at Vincent, but the omega saw the worry in them when Kale thought he wasn’t paying attention.

  Craig entered with a large cup of water and helped Vincent to drink. As another pain rolled over the omega, he widened his legs and braced his feet on the mattress, crying out as the urge to push had him bearing down.

  From between Vincent’s legs, Kale said, “Push harder, Vinny.”

  The omega took a deep breath and obeyed, feeling the baby dislodge and move downward.

  “That’s it. Any minute now.”

  Craig joined Kale at the foot of the bed and caught the infant as it popped free. A frail cry filled the air, and Vincent sagged back onto the pillows, watching Craig hold their newborn in his arms, pride lighting his face.

  Kale got to his feet and stood beside Craig, examining the baby. “He appears healthy and strong.” The alpha circled the bed and bent down to kiss Vincent before lying down beside the omega. “You did a wonderful job. I want you to drink from me now. You lost quite a bit of blood.”

  Through a haze, Vincent realized Shane was there, mopping him up. When had the beta arrived? Obediently, he bit into Kale’s proffered arm, the warm blood of his alpha immediately strengthening him. After Shane got Vincent cleaned up, Kale cradled the omega in his arms. Vincent took long gulps of blood until his eyes grew heavy and he slipped into sleep.

  When the omega awoke, Craig sat next to him on the bed, the baby in his arms.

  Vincent smiled. “Who does he look like?”

  “Difficult to tell, but he scrunches his face up like you do when he cries.”

  Vincent pinched the beta’s arm. “Very funny.”

  Craig ran a big hand over the infant’s head, which was covered in light fuzz. “What do you want to name him?”

  Vincent yawned. “I don’t care. You and Kale pick.”

  “What is your sire’s name?”

  “He’s long dead. His name was Avian. But as Jasper was named for Kale’s sire, we should name this baby after yours.”

  “His name was Boris, and he wasn’t a good man. Ryan was named for my birthing father. Let’s go with Avian.”

  Curious about Craig’s sire but unwilling to break the moment with an unhappy subject, Vincent smiled. “Okay. Avian, then.” He looked down at the baby, who was flailing his small arms and staring at Craig with dark eyes.

  “I hope his eyes are hazel like yours,” Vincent said.

  Craig glanced at the omega. “Why? Your blue eyes are much prettier.”

  “I like the way the greens and blues mix in yours. Even a little brown sometimes shows up,” Vincent said, heart beating faster at the heated look that crept onto Craig’s face.

  “If you hadn’t just given birth to our son, I’d take you here and now,” the beta said, voice gruff.

  Blood filled Vincent’s cock, and Craig smiled when he noticed.

  “Later, when you’ve completely healed.”

  For a werewolf, that only would be a matter of hours, and Vincent tingled in anticipation. Speaking of tingling, his nipples were doing a lot of that as the baby’s coos turned to agitated, hungry whines. Craig passed Avian to the omega and watched the baby latch onto Vincent’s right nipple. The omega felt his milk let down, and the baby began to drink, one small fist resting against Vincent’s chest.

  Kale walked into the room, fresh from the shower. Dropping his towel, the alpha climbed onto the bed beside Craig, hand slipping under the beta’s shirt to flick and tease a nipple.

  Craig smiled knowingly. “Something on your mind?”

  Kale’s cock was already at half-mast. Rather than answer, the alpha took the beta’s mouth in an open-mouthed kiss that had Vincent’s cock responding. He watched his two mates as their kisses became more and more heated. Kale reached down to undo Craig’s pants, releasing the beta’s cock and stroking it as the alpha continued to explore Craig’s mouth.

  Vincent had known all along his beta mate was deeply in love with Kale and that was the primary reason why Craig had spurned the omega. Watching them together now, Vincent could plainly see that love in every touch the beta bestowed on their alpha mate. As the baby drifted off to sleep in the omega’s arms, sucks becoming less urgent, and Craig’s shirt sailed over the bed onto the floor, Vincent realized he no longer felt any jealousy or abandonment when his mates made love without him. Somewhere along the line, Craig had not only softened toward the omega, but proved his devotion.

  As Vincent watched Craig roll onto his stomach and Kale enter him from behind, the beta’s gaze met Vincent’s, soft and heated like dough fresh from the oven. Vincent craned his neck for a kiss and felt Craig’s pants of pleasure against his lips. It had taken a good while, but Vincent’s life had settled into what it should be. He still had his brother close by but was no longer tied to the other omega by their bond from the womb. He could look at Vaughn’s happy family without jealousy or resentment, for Vincent had his own happiness.

  Content to lie with his newborn baby cradled close to his chest and watch his alpha mate fuck Craig in long, sure strokes, Vincent couldn’t help but smile. Later, his little family would walk to the nursery to pick up Ryan and Jasper and introduce the boys to their little brother. After that, they might stroll in the gloaming to the dining hall and have dinner together—one of the fabulous dishes Henry never failed to come up with. The other pack members would gather around them to admire Avian and speculate on whether the baby might be alpha, beta, or omega, although it was far too early to tell. And then they would return home, to their small house on the lake, and make love until they couldn’t any longer.

  THE END

  ABOUT REBECCA JAMES

  Rebecca James majored in English literature, loves reading and writing, and resides in the United States of America.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!