by Aiden Bates
Alex stepped in, closing the distance between them. "You're not asking me to. I'm making the choice, of my own free will. And I'm not necessarily doing it for you. I'm doing it by choice. I'm doing it because I choose not to let that guy make my choices for me. Does that make any sense to you?"
Derek looked down and away. "I can't quite tell. It might if I knew what you wanted from me." Then, as Alex’s jaw dropped and he tried to figure out how he should reply, he picked his head up again. "But that's not something I really need right now."
"It isn't?" Alex was going to get whiplash pretty soon.
"No. It isn't. What I need is you."
Alex should have picked up on that. Hell, Derek was an omega. He needed contact as a general rule, and in times of stress he needed it more. Alex had been staying away, to spare himself from censure and to avoid dealing with his familial conflicts. He hadn't thought it would bother Derek, considering the way the guy had quite literally taken on a murderer, but strength and courage didn't change the fact that Derek was an omega.
Alex leaned forward and touched his lips to Derek's. Derek tensed, but he threaded his long fingers through Alex’s floppy hair and held tight. He tugged just hard enough to make Alex sit up and pay attention, but his mouth was soft and pliant.
Alex crowded him back against the wall, and Derek's hot body trembled beneath him. He rocked his hips against Alex, and Alex was surprised to find him already hard. How long had Derek been waiting, wanting? Why wouldn't he say something?
"Bedroom," Alex whispered. "Carmela doesn't want to see this."
Derek nodded, and he followed Alex meekly toward the bedroom. He stripped off his shirt as they went. Alex couldn't see him, but he could hear the thin cotton fabric whisper as Derek drew it off of his head. He could feel the air brush against his neck as Derek whipped the shirt off of his slim, lithe body.
Once they got to the bedroom, Alex discarded his shirt too. Derek would need to have more skin to skin contact to help soothe his soul. Alex would be more than happy to give it to him.
He took Derek down to the bed and got him naked. Derek, he'd learned, didn't care for clothes much. He was responsive when he was clad, of course. When he was bare, with all of that painted skin exposed and presented, any doubts or reservations melted away.
Alex could have spent days teasing Derek, and eking each and every little gasp, groan and delighted little laugh out of him that human methods could devise. He didn't do that, though. He knew what Derek needed, and it wasn't to be strung along.
He made short work of prep, not looking to hurt his lover but wanting to fill Derek up the way he wanted. He wasn't wrong. When he worked his way inside, with short and shallow thrusts that earned him little grunts of pleasure, He paused when he was fully sheathed, and let Derek's hot body envelop him for a good while. When Derek told him to move, he snapped his hips back and moved.
He lost himself in the rhythm. He'd set out to do this for Derek's sake, but he certainly wasn't making any sacrifices. Sex with Derek was different than it was with anyone else. He had sex with other people when he wanted, and they were willing. He'd never volunteered himself purely to serve someone else's need before, and he found Derek's pleasure only took him higher.
Derek, emotionally overwrought and too wrecked to hold out, came quickly. He exploded in orgasm, and Alex found himself surprised that Derek remembered to suffocate his cries with a pillow. His whole body relaxed then, and Alex had to worry whether or not he'd passed out.
Alex himself lasted a little longer, and then he faltered and gave up his own efforts. The sensation, the scent, was just too much. He groaned and collapsed onto Derek, which earned him a happy little grunt.
He pulled out after a moment and snuck down to the bathroom to get a cloth to clean them up. He didn't see or hear any movement from Carmela's room when he went back.
He stayed most of the night with Derek, but he sneaked out as the sun came up. He didn't want to upset Carmela.
When he left Derek's condo, he found a familiar figure on their shared doorstep. His father sat with his back against Alex’s door, arms crossed against his chest. "Long night, son?"
Alex froze in place. "Dad." He bowed his head. Even at thirty-three, he felt like a schoolboy. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I came to see my son. I have a right to know what my son is up to, don't you think?" Dad didn't wait for Alex to answer. He rose to his feet, elegant and graceful despite his many years. "Go shower and change. Then we'll take a ride."
Dad refused to walk into Alex’s condo, and Alex knew he was being punished.
Alex showered and put on clean, fresh clothes. He moved as fast as he could, and then he headed right back outside. His father waited in his own car for him, that Volkswagen Bug he loved so much. He thought it was quirky. Dad just didn't understand he was far too old for cars like that now.
Alex slipped into his place on the passenger side. Dad never let anyone else drive, not in the whole time Alex had known him. He'd even made Mama teach Alex and Ivy to drive, because he couldn't tolerate anyone else behind the wheel.
"So, Alex. I see you spent the night with that hairball neighbor of yours." Dad gripped the steering wheel.
Alex looked down at the ground. "Yes, sir."
"What are you thinking, Alex? You know that kid's no good." Dad smacked the steering wheel. "I mean first Ayla comes home and she's all messed up. She spent what, fifteen years? Sixteen? When she could have come home, and been part of this family. I've been sitting here wondering when it all went wrong, and now I can't help but think it was all with you."
Alex gasped for breath. He couldn't find the air in his lungs. "I found her for you. Derek and I convinced her it was okay to make contact with you. And you think it all went south with me?"
"You wouldn't have had to convince her if she hadn't stayed away in the first place. What was it that you did that convinced her to stay away, Alex?" Dad shook his head. "I know my daughter would have come right back where she belongs as soon as she could have. But you must've done something, and you and that dirtbag are running around, turning her head around and convincing her she gets to stay away."
"I told her to come back. It took a lot of effort to convince her to come back."
"But she's not back." Dad shook his head. "She's not back, and you're slumming with that tramp of an omega."
Something inside of Alex snapped. "You're one to talk about slumming it, aren't you?"
Dad backhanded him. "You don't get to fling those kinds of accusations around. You have no idea what's going on with me. Your mother and I have an agreement."
Alex rubbed at his jaw. He knew he'd been out of line. He'd mouthed off to his dad. Dad had it hard. He'd lost his brother, and his mom. It wasn't easy for him. Alex didn't need to go making it harder on him.
"Now. You and that kid. I don't like it. It ends." Dad wouldn't even look at him.
"It's a fling." Dad would know all about flings, wouldn't he? Alex didn't dare speak the words. He shouldn't have even allowed the thought. "It's not even a big deal."
"It is a big deal. You're an alpha for crying out loud. You need to settle down. You need to find an omega, someone you can be with for the rest of your life. Someone has to carry on the family name. What you do after that, well, that's between you and the omega in question. This one, though—he's off the table." Dad smacked the steering wheel again.
"He's a good man." Alex looked out the window at the changing leaves.
"He's a mouthy little shit who doesn't have any respect for family." Dad accelerated. "He's illiterate, he's self-important, and he's encouraging both you and Ayla to disrespect your family. I'd rather you had no contact at all. When you get home, find three new houses to go look at. You're too old to be living in a dump like that complex anyway."
Alex glared. What kind of an alpha let his father order him around like that at his age, anyway? "It's a fine place to live until I find someone to be with long term. There's
nothing wrong with it, it's clean and comfortable."
"I want you far away from that boy." Dad shook his finger at Alex. "And no more seeing Ayla without me being there. I don't trust you with her."
Alex looked up at the sky. "You do realize that she's a frequent visitor at the condo next door."
"She won't be." He waved his hand. "When you have a family of your own, Alex, you'll understand. A man has to be in control of his castle. Otherwise everything just falls apart."
Dad drove Alex back to his place after that, dropping him at the entrance to the parking lot. Alex trudged back to his condo, entering it this time without a hassle. He headed into his bedroom and curled up under the covers.
Alex was not in control of his castle, or anything else. How had that happened, anyway? He should talk about that with Dr. Radic. He couldn't say he wanted a family like the one he'd grown up with. Mama was perfect in every way, but Dad—well, Dad was a good man, but he had his flaws.
And needing to control everything in the family almost had to take its toll on him. It couldn't not drain a person, right?
Maybe he should talk about it with Derek. Derek knew about these things.
The thought was dangerous, even subversive. He wasn't supposed to be talking to Derek anymore. He could no more avoid talking to Derek than he could avoid blood in surgery, for crying out loud. And what was more, he didn't want to.
A man had to be the master in his own home. Alex didn't want to stop talking to Derek. He didn't want to stop seeing Derek, and he didn't want to stop sleeping with Derek, either. As for anything else, well, who knew? Maybe they'd find a way to continue their affair as it was. Neither one of them seemed to be in a hurry to make things official.
Maybe that would change. Maybe as Derek got older he would want the comfort and security of a family, and then they'd have some decisions to make. They'd only known each other for a little while. They had time before they needed to worry about forever.
So the family wouldn't accept Derek. It was what it was. Ayla already seemed to like Derek better than the family anyway. They certainly had more in common. Ivy didn't seem to have a problem with him, either, not that Ivy had a problem with anything Ayla said or did these days.
Maybe Mama would come around. Her issues with Derek didn't seem to stem so much from Derek but from the family. And right now, Alex didn't truly care what his father thought at all.
Chapter Eleven
Derek slid behind the wheel of his beloved Honda. He'd been starting her up, but he hadn't been able to do more than move her back and forth in her parking spot. Now that the sling was off and both Alex and Dr. Wade had cleared him to drive, he had an almost erotic desire to be back in the driver's seat.
Carmela looked at him out of the side of her eyes. "Okay, getting creepy now."
Derek shook his head and laughed. "You don't even have your driver's license yet. Come back to me in ten years and tell you how you feel."
She rolled her eyes and pushed a lock of her long dark hair behind her ear. "Okay, there, ace. I'll do that. While we're on the subject, where are we going?"
"Like I told you yesterday, I'm out of medical leave time. I'm going back to work." He put the car in gear and headed out of the parking lot. "My studio is right downtown. The room I'm in is quiet, but there are lots of people around and the police are close by. We should be very safe there."
Carmela slumped down into her seat and looked out the window. She didn't say much for the rest of the trip.
She'd perked up a bit by the time they got to the studio, though. She stuck close by Derek's side, but she looked around with interest and took in the MOST and the older, elegant buildings around them with awe. "This town is old, huh?"
"You bet." He gestured. "Used to be a pretty rich town, a long time ago. The Erie Canal flowed right through the middle of downtown, more or less right where we are. It started to decline when the lake got too nasty, and then the industry all went away and it was all over." He shrugged. "But hey, the place is still here. Folks still move here. It's a beautiful area, and a nice place to raise kids if you have them." He ushered her inside.
Neither one of them liked the feeling of being exposed.
Derek had hoped to walk into the building more or less unnoticed, but a guy who's six foot four tends not to have an easy time of that. The receptionist stood up when she saw his face over the top of her tall cubicle. "Oh my God, Derek! I'd started to think you were never coming back!"
The receptionist flew around her desk to throw her arms around him. Derek hugged her back, grateful for the open display of affection. "Thanks, Shari." He gave her a little squeeze. "I was starting to feel like I'd never make it back either. I'm glad to be here, you know? Shari, this is Carmela. She's been staying with me for a little while, and until she's ready to head back to school she's going to be hanging out with me for a little while longer."
Shari was an amazing person. She could pick up on things like Carmela's limits and not have to talk about them. Instead, she gave Carmela a friendly smile. "Fantastic. I'll get her set up with an ID and a login for the network. At least she won't have to sit around watching you flip switches, you know?"
"Awesome. You're the best, Shari."
Carmela looked down and blushed, and muttered her own gratitude toward the floor. Shari didn't speak Spanish, but she seemed to understand Carmela's sentiment nevertheless. "Aw, you're welcome, sweetie. Come on, we'll get you all set up."
Shari followed them into Derek's booth. He had his computer there, but there was another one for anyone who had a two-person show. It had been weeks since Derek had seen the inside of his studio. He felt like he'd been away even longer, because he'd been stuck at the Fair when he'd been shot. Walking into this place felt like coming home.
He had a list of the latest songs in heavy rotation. Some of them were the same songs that had been in heavy rotation when Derek had gone down, but some were new. He'd kept up with music while he'd been on leave, of course. He couldn't not. It was as much a part of him as air or water. Getting to share it with the world, though, this was magic.
He had no trouble settling back into his familiar roles. He sank back into the rhythm of talk, music, and commercials like he hadn't been away. As soon as his voice went out onto the air, his social media feeds filled up, and a grin spread out across his face. Maybe he couldn't be loved in his day to day life, but his fans cared if he lived or died. He could be happy with that. Who wouldn't be?
He helped get Carmela set up in between songs. She seemed interested in helping him out behind the scenes, and Derek wasn't going to try to push her away. He needed to have someone else looking at the news wire and at any incoming alerts. There was no way he could cover them all, and Carmela found five or six good stories he'd have completely missed.
He gave her full credit, of course. "I want to make sure to give a shout out to my good buddy Carmela. She's my new intern, learning the business from the ground up. Today's her first day and I have to say, she's doing a phenomenal job so far. Check out this story she found today about Florida Man. You all know Florida Man, right? Well, in this gem of a story out of Georgetown, Florida, Florida Man jumped into Lake George to retrieve his sunglasses. Now, here's what gets me about this story. Dude's born and raised in Georgetown his whole life, right? He knows that water. He knows what's in that water, specifically gators. Sunglasses are cheap. The ones I wore on the way in here cost me fifteen bucks on the Thruway.
"Are you really going to chance gators just to get a fifteen dollar pair of sunglasses out of the muck?"
Derek shook his head at the story. "Anyway, there might be more going on here than meets the eye, and I hope there is. Either way, I wish all the best to Mr. Jasper Rollins and his family. I hope he's found soon, and that he somehow got to shore. Here's 'Want You Back' by HAIM."
Carmela laughed a little bit once the music started and Derek put the mic away. "People want to hear about that?"
Derek smiled to see Carm
ela laughing, even a little bit. It was good to see her coming out of her shell shock, even a little at a time. He could remember how long it had taken him, and the gradual warming of his soul. "Apparently. People who want to hear a DJ during their afternoon drive want to hear some personality. They want to hear something that will make them laugh, or shake their heads. I don't know—I'd rather listen to music, myself. But this is what they like."
"Funny. I'd have thought they'd have wanted more music too." She looked pensively at all the equipment. "Does your company have a Spanish channel?"
"You bet. I do a Spanish Alternative show on Saturday nights and I fill in when they need someone." He pushed his hair back. "Don't let anyone kid you. Being a DJ doesn't pay great, unless you're one of the big ones. If you want to make a living wage, you really have to be prepared to hustle."
"Huh." She accepted that and nodded, but her eyes were calculating.