Dustin turned back to me with such a tender expression in his eyes that it made my breath catch in my throat. Before I realized what was happening, he stood from his chair, rounded the table, and with a strength that I did not know he possessed, pulled me back from the table by my chair and straddled my lap. I gasped, inhaling his clean scent. I could not stop myself from wrapping my arms about his strong back, letting his muscles play beneath my fingertips. He had such a pleasing physique now that I had time to properly feel him. Strong, lean muscles under firm, tanned skin told me he worked hard with his shirt off when he could. I stared into his quicksilver eyes, letting my hands drift down to his taut waist to play with the waistband of his sweatpants.
“What is this?” I asked. My voice betrayed me, coming out husky and, I admit, a bit needy. “Beauty?”
He looped his arms about my neck and leaned in until our foreheads pressed together and we breathed each other’s breath. “You truly do want to save everyone, don’t you?”
I closed my eyes and sighed. “I do. But it is impossible. There are so many people, and most of them have such pride that helping them offends them. I just… sometimes I wonder why this world is so different than the one from which I hail. Why will some people steal and connive their way to get money, and others who desperately need it turn down help when it is offered?”
Dustin smirked at me and leaned in, pressing a chaste kiss to my lips, and I had never tasted anything so sweet. “Because humans are complex animals.”
My entire body shivered, flooding with gooseflesh until I became hard and aching, my hole wet with slick with Dustin so close. “But you are not…”
He grinned and kissed me again, leaving behind the taste of maple syrup. He inhaled deeply as if scenting me before responding. “On occasion. You’ve already seen how difficult I can be.”
“I have.”
Another kiss and I melted against him. He either had no idea what he was doing to me or was rather good at the game he played. His voice lowered an octave, becoming dark and sultry, “And when was the last time you let someone take care of you?”
I shivered again, unable to help myself. Dustin’s voice went straight to my groin and made me flush with heat all over. I whispered against his soft lips, “Beth… Kevin…”
Dustin let out a dark chuckle and shook his head, only slightly. “You still take care of them more than they take care of you. Taking them in, paying for anything they might want or need, keeping a roof over their heads, giving them jobs they love, letting them feel like they have power over you when in reality you could easily undermine them. Try again.”
Another shiver rippled across my skin, and I pressed closer, my erection straining against the fine wool of my trousers. “Too long.”
He adopted a sweet grin that lit up his eyes like lightning in a stormy sky. “Then it’s about time someone took care of you. Don’t you think?”
I moaned as he rolled his hips into mine, grinding us together. Just that one motion had me panting. “Please, Dustin… take care of me.”
This time when he leaned in, I parted my lips for him, and he swept his tongue into my mouth, melting me into a pool of desire and tenderness. His skilled mouth claimed mine in a slow, tantalizing kiss that broke my heart and reformed it into something stronger.
When he pulled away, I chased his lips until he chuckled at me and stood. He took my hand, and drew me out of my chair, led me to my bedroom. I had no choice but to follow him. My heart and soul would allow nothing else. And once the door closed behind us, I had a beautiful young man pressed against me.
With deft hands, Dustin slid my sweater up and over my head, his palms grazing my skin deliciously along the way until the sweater fell to the floor and he was holding my hands. For once, I did not care that one of my favorite sweaters laid haphazardly on the floor. My sense of order be damned when I had Dustin in my arms.
My sweater removed, he teased me with another closed-mouth kiss and let go of my hands. They ached for his touch, but I couldn’t care, as those hands unfastened my belt and pants until they pooled around my ankles. And for a twenty-year-old, it surprised me that his movements were slow and sure, rather than rushed and frenzied as I had expected. He was taking exquisite care of me.
He pushed his loose sweatpants down and stepped out of them in one fluid motion before dropping straight to his knees. I stared down at him, unable to breathe, but he took his time, lifting one of my feet to untangle the pant leg and remove my sock, then moving to the other to do the same. When he looked up at me again, the raw lust in his eyes I had expected to see was not there. Instead, I saw nothing but a gentle smile in his eyes. Yes, his pupils were expanded, showing black pools surrounded by a ring of the deepest, glittering silver, but Dustin was in complete control of himself.
And he was in complete control of me. “Get on the bed, Cass. And tell me where your condoms and lube are.”
I shivered as I walked to the bed. The note of command in Dustin’s voice would be my undoing and made my ass embarrassingly gush slick. I murmured, “I have no condoms. I cannot contract or spread a human’s sexually transmitted diseases or infections.” But to adhere to his quiet command, before I laid on the bed, I said, “I—I need no lubricant.”
He stalked me like a large cat on the plains. Under his penetrating gaze, I felt like a wounded gazelle—hunted with no way to escape. But I didn’t want to escape. I wanted him to catch me, to devour me.
“No lube?”
I shook my head, and when he gave me a quizzical look, I took his hand and let him feel how wet I was for him. His right eyebrow raised, and he pulled back to look at his hand and rub it between his thumb and fingers to feel the thick consistency. “Did you lube up before breakfast?”
I shook my head again and squirmed. “In—in elves, there are what we call alphas and omegas, as I said before. We have no women like humans do. Only males. Omegas can bear children, though it is rare. As long-lived as we are, we are not as fertile as other humanoid races. And alphas can only sire children. I gave him a shy grin. “Alphas need lubricant for anal sex, whereas omegas create their own, much like a human woman’s vagina.”
“And you’re an omega?” Dustin asked. His eyes were still dilated beautifully, and his erection stood proud from his body, clearly still interested even after the short elven biology lesson.
“I am. And that will mean I am substantially more emotional than most others.”
“So I can get you pregnant? Is that what you’re saying?” Dustin asked. It was a valid question. “If that’s true, then I’d still like to use a condom.”
I bit my lower lip and took a deep breath, smelling our arousal and squirming under the assault. “I can only get pregnant if I’m in heat, though I have rendered myself magically sterile until my mate and I decide we wish to have children.”
“Wait. Like… like dogs go into heat?”
The adorably confused look came back, and I chuckled. “Something like that. And alphas do get knots like them, as well, and like the wolvan species of our world—you would call them werewolves or wolf shifters, though the second is more appropriate.”
Dustin nodded. “A topic for another time.” And with gentle hands and tender touches, Dustin eased me back onto the bed, once again showing the strength he had acquired from hard labor working construction. His strength, his commanding presence, unraveled any concerns I may have had, and the way he kissed down my chest, shaped my body with his work-roughened hands had me warm, feeling safe for the first time in millennia.
“Fuck, you smell so good,” Dustin murmured against my hipbone. He trailed his lips from one side to the other to nibble along my other hipbone to my thigh as he climbed onto the bed and settled between my legs. He scooted back and pushed my legs further apart. His hot breath wafted over the sensitive skin of my inner thighs, and I thought I might faint from hyperventilation. When that first nip came, I nearly levitated off the bed, a whorish moan escaping my throat.
He nipped, kissed, and licked his way along my inner thigh until his nose pressed against my aching balls, lifting them up with his nose, and I melted as his tongue laved my taint with firm licks.
I panted, gasping for air between long ripped-out-of-me moans. Dustin pushed my legs up to my chest, pushing the air from my lungs in a solid grunt that became a hoarse cry as that talented tongue licked from my lower back, over my anus, to the underside of my balls. I thought I might die from the sensations that assaulted my senses when he stabbed that tongue against my rapidly-softening opening. In all my years, I had never had anyone do such a thing to me. Dirty and lovely and—oh Gods, he breached me, his tongue twisting and turning inside, setting me aflame. The wet sound of him slurping up my juices stirred my frenzy.
“Gods,… beauty,” I whimpered, unable to keep the note of pleading from my voice.
He removed his tongue from my tight ring and murmured against my balls, “Relax, baby. Let me take care of you.”
I wanted nothing less. I groaned and shuddered as Dustin went back to licking and sucking on my greedy hole, shoving my hips up to meet his mouth as he fucked me with his agile tongue. In that moment, I was his without question. I lived for him, at his mercy.
When he tore his mouth away, I whined low in my throat. How had I been reduced to a quivering mass of desire by a young man barely a fraction of my age? How had I, a former king, been incapacitated and made to willingly submit to such a man?
My body refused to care, my hole spasming as Dustin straightened and scooted closer on his knees. Soon after, all thought fled as Dustin pumped two fingers into me as he licked the skin just behind my knee. It was a strange delight to my senses, but not as much as when Dustin crooked his finger and massaged my prostate. My whole body jerked. My erection throbbed, painfully hard and begging to be touched.
And I found myself begging, too. “Beauty… please…”
“What do you need?” came his husky reply.
I looked down to find his eyes boring into mine, commanding me to answer. “Please… Gods, please touch me.”
He gave me a wicked grin and rubbed my prostate harder. “But I am touching you.”
I was not proud enough not to beg. I whined low in my throat, let out dirty words that normally would not leave my lips, even for the most experienced lover. “Please touch my cock!”
“That’s my dirty boy,” Dustin praised. He shifted, and the next moment, I felt his hot breath along my length, then his tongue as it laved my swollen head. I gasped, rolling my hips, my body wordlessly pleading him to take me into his mouth.
I tensed, waiting, praying. When Dustin’s hot, wet mouth finally closed over my cockhead and sucked, I nearly wept with the intense sensation, with joy for being so connected to him. I had no hope of composure when he finally breached me with his cock. No hope whatsoever.
He added another finger to my hole, grinning at the squelching sounds as my juices continued gushing around his talented fingers. My hips jerked, and it took all I had not to come into his beloved mouth.
Dustin must have sensed it. He squeezed my base, making me hiss with pleasure and pain. It dampened my urge to come, had me panting. I looked down, watching his mouth swallow me whole until his nose buried into my pubic hair. Just then, as if he sensed my eyes upon him, he looked up and locked eyes with me. I was mesmerized, like staring into a cobra’s eyes right before it struck. I was helpless. Helpless to watch as he bobbed, barely restraining the need to continue begging for what I desperately wanted.
Then he pulled off my dick and got into position between my legs, once again a hunting cat stalking his prey. Who was this man who could be so very sensitive and then command me like a proper king? My king.
I trembled, anticipation building as he reached once again for my ass. I tore my eyes away from his beautiful, enigmatic eyes and watched as he slicked himself with my juices and positioned his cock at my entrance. My breath hitched as I felt the blunt head of his dick nudge against my hole.
And once again, he commanded me, “Look at me.”
I lifted my eyes to his, the hunger in them my undoing. I wrapped my legs about his waist and urged him to fill me. He lowered, his mouth claiming mine in a languid kiss, like a brand to my soul. The heat and comfort the kiss spread through me made me forget about everything—about the nightmares, about my loneliness. He filled me with comfort and warmth, with promises of a future of love and belonging.
I finally unclenched my hands from the bedsheets and gripped his strong back, loving the way he felt atop me. I pulled him down, wanting—no, needing—to feel his weight upon me, needing it to feel grounded, lest I float away.
And then he penetrated me, and I moaned into his mouth. Exquisite torture wracked my senses as he slid inside me in a slow, controlled glide that had me breathless. I hooked my ankles together and pressed them down against his ass, trying to drive him deeper, but he resisted me.
He broke the kiss to murmur against my lips, “Slow, kitten. Let me take care of you.”
I wanted to weep, wanted to beg. But the moment Dustin was fully seated within me, I could no longer care. I felt so full, connected, loved, and for the first time in so long, I felt a part of something, someone, that I clung to him desperately. Tears leaked from my eyes, and Dustin kissed them away on one side while his thumb gently stroked away the others.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered against the shell of my ear. He started to move, slowly withdrawing from me and sliding back in, all with fluid, controlled movements that made my soul sing. “I’ve got you, Cass. It’s all right now.”
I cried into his kisses, clung to him as if my life depended on it. I had no idea my soul craved such closeness until that moment. No idea until Dustin kissed all my tears away and caught those that escaped, murmuring words of love and protection that filled me with such peace that I never wanted it to end.
When my tears slowed, Dustin lifted his head to look me in the eyes again, his own shining with a powerful calm certainty that reached my heart, making it beat faster. “What do you need, baby?”
I didn’t recognize my voice, raspy and thick, as I whispered, “Make me forget… make me remember…”
This time, his kiss was commanding and hard. He snapped his hips forward, driving into me with such force that the bed shook. He set a punishing rhythm that I couldn’t get enough of. Our grunts and moans sang throughout my bedroom, filling it with a warmth that I wanted to wrap around me forever.
The intensity scrubbed my soul clean, scrubbed my mind of all things but him, all things but his pounding cock and the delicious friction of his abdomen rubbing against my straining erection. I wanted to stay in this blissful cloud forever, stay in his arms for eternity, never to leave again, never to feel that crushing loneliness.
Dustin reached between us, grasped my cock, and stroked fast and hard, his grip just right. I tried to stave off my orgasm, but he murmured thickly between kisses, his voice strained. “Come for me, kitten. I need you to come first.” He shuddered above me, and I felt so much power. I could fight it, make him wait. But I didn’t want to. “Come on, love,” he urged again.
Love. I came so hard with just that one word that the world turned white, and I was blinded. Dustin rode me hard, chasing his own orgasm as he fucked me through mine. His roar as he came echoed through that white-hot stratosphere that I had rocketed into, tethering me to him, drawing me back. The throbbing of his cock as he spilled inside me made me shudder, made me cling to his back tighter, digging my fingernails into his flesh until he grunted with the pain.
“That’s it,” he said. Once again, his kisses had turned tender. He relaxed atop me, his weight a blessed warmth that wrapped me in safety. It surprised me that Dustin didn’t pull out, that he left his softening cock inside me as he took care of me, as he caressed the side of my face, bringing me through the haze of euphoria that surrounded me in our post-coital bliss.
With his weight upon me, I laid there and dozed for a few moments, feeling safe and cared for. It was the first time since well before I left my home in the Summerlands that I felt such a way. But did I even feel this cherished then? Had I ever truly felt this way?
No. No, I hadn’t. Never had I felt such a connection, such care, and the realization made my soul ache. I nuzzled into his shoulder, breathing in his warm scent, licking the sweat off his skin.
My CommLink implant chimed with an incoming call, making me groan at the intrusion. The calm, female voice said, “Bradley calling.” I groaned louder and kissed Dustin’s shoulder before murmuring, “Transfer to Beth.” I couldn’t deal with my public relations manager right now.
Dustin kissed my forehead. “Let’s shower. We’re a sticky mess.”
I agreed, and it surprised me that Dustin joined me in my shower, washed me, taking care of me once again before he washed himself quickly. He pressed a kiss to my chin, one to my nose, before pecking my lips. Then he dried me with such care that he paid attention to every finger, every toe. He dried my flaccid cock with a reverence that made my breath catch in my throat.
Then he stood and kissed me again, again just a chaste, soft peck. “Get dressed. I’ll meet you in your parlor.”
And he left me.
Now that he was gone, off to dress in the clothes I had bought for him from Mr. Cipriani, I had time to think. Had Dustin shared his body out of love or because he wanted an easy lay? But I couldn’t reconcile that notion with the man who cared for me with such tender touches, who kissed away my tears, who washed every inch of my body as if it was a gift from the gods.
I dressed quickly in fresh clothes, picked up the discarded ones from the floor, and deposited them into the hamper. They were clean, but… I couldn’t bring myself to wear them again after Dustin had so carefully removed them from me. It almost felt as if I shouldn’t wear them again today, so I did not.
When I made it into the parlor after making sure I was presentable, my hair brushed and tied back in a silver ribbon that matched my silver-gray sweater and black slacks—that matched my beauty’s stunning silver eyes—I found Dustin seated on my favorite couch, right next to my “butt imprint.” It warmed me that he left that spot open for me, that he sat so close to it, again taking care of me, staying close.
Perhaps he didn’t just want an easy lay.
I sat next to him, and he leaned into me. “We need to talk,” he said, but he didn’t sound angry or stressed. He sounded confident and caring.
“About what,” I asked, wrapping my arm around his shoulders. I desperately wanted him closer, on my lap again. But somehow, that seemed wrong, as if I should be the one on his lap.
“Boundaries,” he said. “I’m not going to fight you about staying anymore. Not unless you or the others give me a reason to. But… I’m attracted to you. I think I’ve made this clear.”
I nodded, staring into his eyes. He seemed so aloof that he almost seemed like another person. For the life and love of me, I wanted to make him feel like he belonged, erase that aloofness that now surrounded him, bring back the beautiful, sensitive young man who would sit in my lap and cuddle against my chest to comfort me. His aloofness frightened me, and I couldn’t figure out why.
But… wasn’t he taking care of me then, too? My heart fluttered at the thought. Was this attraction, or was it a base need because of my loneliness and my grief? Was it because I had become jaded after being rejected by those I loved more than I loved breathing? I swallowed my heart, swallowed my doubts, and whispered, “I am attracted to you, as well, my beauty.”
He gave me a soft, warm smile that met his eyes. “I kind of figured.” He sighed. “Cass, we have to lay out some ground rules for the future. You did things that normal people wouldn’t do to others without asking their permission or discussing it with them first. For instance, the fact you terminated my lease without even talking to me, and had my things moved without even a word, and the fact you used subterfuge to get what you wanted instead of talking to me like a reasonable person. If you would have discussed these things with me first, I may not have been so upset. I may not have fought you so hard.”
His eyes bored into mine with such intensity that I wanted to look away, but I didn’t dare. “I’m a reasonable person,” he said. “Yes, I freaked out last night, but did you expect anything less? It is a big deal when a human finds out that magic and elves exist. It’s even bigger when they find out they’re changing species. But you didn’t wait for me to calm down to talk about all this. You didn’t even think to do it, did you?”
My heart sat heavy in my chest, and I tore my eyes away to stare at my hands where I had them folded on my lap. I shook my head. “No… I apologize. No, I did not.”
“So,” he went on, “from now on, if it involves me, you will talk to me about it. Explain the reasons for wanting to do something, and we’ll discuss it. Am I clear?”
I released the breath I had been holding and nodded. It was a reasonable request. And, to be honest, at that moment, I could deny Dustin nothing.
“Then it’s settled.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek. I leaned into it as if starved for his affection, basking in his warmth. “I’m going to go finish putting my room together. Are you all right now?”
Was I? I shivered and buried my face into the curve of his neck, breathing in his scent one last time before saying, “I am.”
Dustin hugged me so tight that I never wanted him to let go. Then, releasing me, he stood and said, “I’ll see you in a bit. Better call that Bradley guy back. I remember Beth said last night he’s been trying to reach you for a while.”
I had all but forgotten about Bradley and wanted to groan. But I nodded. I couldn’t put him off any longer. “I will.”
“Good. Behave.”
I smirked. “Yes, alpha.”
