“I am sure they see me just fine.”
It sounds mean, but it’s also a plea—for understanding, for the love Gideon doesn’t think he deserves.
“They do. But do you?”
Jay licks the other side, where Leo and Grayson’s marks overlap and form something that looks like a beautiful heart made of teeth.
Jay holds Gideon’s cock straight up so he can admire it—such a pretty dick, always the instrument of someone else’s pleasure. Time to show hismate that he can have something for himself, too. Jay grinds his neglected cock into the mattress for a sliver of relief, reminding himself: Gideon comes first.
Taking the tip of Gideon’s cock in his mouth, he sucks hard at the head while sliding his other hand down and under, pressing his finger firmly against Gideon’s perineum. Pulling off, Jay blows on the wet head until he gives a full-body shiver.
“Alpha,” Gideon moans, hands clutched in the bottom sheet so hard he’s pulled one corner off.
“I asked you a question, kitten. Do you see yourself as they see you? Tell me, and I’ll let you fuck me.”
Jay rubs his thumb through the precome on the head of Gideon’s cock—so silky and slick. It smells and tastes like rain.
Gideon tries to roll over, but Jay doesn’t let go of that very nice dick, and Gideon’s move is aborted with an “ow!”
Jay laughs and lets go so he can swing a leg over Gideon’s hips, this time down far enough that when Gideon bucks up, his slippery cock slides between Jay’s ass cheeks, catching on his dry hole.
“You changed your mind, kitten?”
Gideon answers with another sharp thrust. “Fuck, no. We could be asleep already if you weren’t so annoying.”
“I have nowhere else I need to be. Do I need to repeat the question?”
Jay catches Gideon’s gaze, and he should have known his mate would not be the first to look away. Instead, Gideon sits up and sinks his fangs into Jay’s pec. It’s brutal—not new in their sex play—but again, it’s an attempt to provoke Jay to get what he wants.
“That hurt, kitten,” Jay says blandly.
Gideon flops backward onto the bed. “Agh! What do you want from me!? No, I don’t know what they see in me—not even Luca. But I am blessed to have them—you. Only the Goddess knows why, and They never said.”
His voice softens. “Because I don’t deserve you. I work all the time to do good things so I can earn this life. And today—tonight? I fucked up and that boy died. He died because they wanted Nix.”
He’s speaking so quietly that Jay can barely hear him over the beating of his own heart.
“And I think this is all happening because of me.”
“What?” Jay slides back onto the bed, genuinely flummoxed. “What are you fucking talking about?”
Gideon sits up and grabs a shirt off the floor, wiping the blood off Jay’s chest with a muttered, “Sorry.”
When he’s done, he looks directly into Jay’s eyes. “It’s Carnell. Dill Pickle said he wasn’t supposed to kill me…and he was supposed to take Nix.”
Every interaction Jay has had with Patrick Carnell slams into him at once—this time, with this new knowledge laid over the top. Things he knew about Gideon’s upbringing before he was out from under Carnell’s thumb. Things that have been happening since Nix has been with them.
“Hayes?” Jay asks, hoping the answer will be a firm no.
Gideon just shrugs. “I don’t know how or even why. But we have to assume he’s been playing the long game—with a big picture I can’t figure out. He’s the only one who’s that well connected.”
Holy fuck.
Jay climbs off the bed and makes for the door. He needs to see his mates, to know they’re safe.
Can he even trust the Sentinel guards? Fuck, what about Logan?
His mind is racing, spiraling, a rising tide of panic climbing up his throat. He presses his back against the wall and slides onto his ass hands gripping his hair.
