The Duty of a Beta (4 page)

“Or were you afraid that I
wouldn’t
demand that?”

“I…” Talbot murmured.

Gunnar pulled back, just far enough to look down into the other wolf’s eyes.

His scent screamed his desire. But there was fear there too, and it was impossible for Gunnar to work out what the other man was really feeling. Talbot blinked up at him, his expression as confused as the rest of him.

“I don’t demand sex from wolves who aren’t interested in providing it,” Gunnar informed him.

“I…I’m interested,” Talbot blurted out. His eyes opened very wide, as if he was shocked at his own daring in admitting such a thing.

Gunnar continued to glare down at the other wolf. “It could only last until things are settled between me and Alfred,” he forced himself to say. There could be no misunderstandings on that point. Sooner or later, he’d have to do his duty.

Talbot dropped his gaze before he nodded.

“Not good enough,” Gunnar snapped. There was no way in hell a nod of the head could be enough to settle things between them.

“I…” Talbot swallowed rapidly as he met Gunnar’s gaze with obvious effort. “I understand. I know what I’m saying yes to.”

Did he? Gunnar hoped like hell that he did, because the longer he stared down at him, the more impossible it was for Gunnar to imagine himself ever turning away from him.

Dipping his head once more, the beta brought their lips back together. At the same time, his other hand slid between them to cup the omega through his jeans. Barely nineteen, and as inexperienced as hell, it didn’t really take a master technician to have Talbot rolling his hips and thrusting eagerly against another man’s palm.

Breaking the kiss, Gunnar gazed down, thoroughly enchanted by the simple honesty in the omega’s reactions.

Letting go of the smaller wolf’s hair, Gunnar covered Talbot’s mouth with his palm as he walked him back and pressed him against the white-washed wall.

The omega’s eyes flew open. Astonishment filled his expression. His hips bucked. Just in time, Gunnar’s hand created a tight seal over his mouth and muffled the sound of the younger man’s howl.

A few precious moments stretched out into something that felt more like a lifetime as he watched pleasure and amazement fly across Talbot’s face. Even when the omega finally stilled, collapsing back against the wall, Gunnar remained exactly where he was for an extra few seconds.

His hand remained over the smaller man’s mouth. Talbot sucked against his palm. His tongue lapped against his skin, stealing a taste of him. Still, Gunnar only intended to give Talbot permission to talk when he wanted to permit it, not just when he had finished howling. It was important that the omega realised the difference right from the start.

It was impossible to tell if it was that knowledge or coming in his trousers that made Talbot blush again. Either way, it was a pretty reaction and Gunnar had every intention of keeping that colour in his cheeks as often as he could. If the best way to do that was to remind the smaller man that he was under another wolf’s control, then all the better.

When he finally released Talbot, Gunnar took a step back. The omega stayed where he was. That wasn’t a bad thing. Gunnar wasn’t even sure Talbot would be able to support himself if he did try to step away from the wall.

The only things that moved were the younger man’s eyes. He looked in every direction and at everything in the room bar the wolf standing directly in front of him.

“Is there…what can I do for…?” Talbot trailed off as their eyes finally met.

Gunnar glanced to his left. The step back he’d taken provided him with a view through the small, high window that looked out of the laundry room over the fields. The sun was high. The other wolves would soon be making their way back to the house after completing their morning duties.

What he wanted Talbot to do for him and what there was time for Talbot to do for him were two very different things. Gunnar held back a groan of pure frustration as his cock pleaded with him for release. There was barely even going to be time for what
needed
to be done with Talbot. He’d just have to wait.

Snatching a pair of Talbot’s trousers off the top of one of the piles of freshly washed and dried
clothes,
Gunnar tossed them to the omega. The younger man wasn’t so fuddled with afterglow that he couldn’t catch. His brain however, seemed to be far more affected than his reaction times. He blinked at the garment in his hands as if he had no idea what to do with it.

“The others will be back soon. Get changed,” Gunnar ordered.

Talbot lifted his gaze. He stared at the beta for several long seconds as the other man’s words completely failed to register in his mind. Finally he managed to look back at the trousers.

Get changed.
The order made perfect sense. The trousers he was wearing were already feeling more than a little sticky and uncomfortable. For some stupid reason, he still found himself standing there like an idiot, unable to move a single muscle.

“Talbot!” There was an impatient little snap to the beta’s voice which kicked Talbot back into action.

Blushing more furiously than ever Talbot reached for his fly, but his hands didn’t want to work. His fingers were clumsy. The top button wouldn’t come undone.

Without any warning, bigger, stronger hands pushed Talbot’s fingers aside. Gunnar made quick work of the fastening. Within moments, Talbot’s trousers were down around his knees and Gunnar was holding onto his arm, helping him kick off his shoes so he could step out of the tangle of material.

Snatching his trousers off the floor, the beta tossed them onto one of the loads of clothes still left to be washed. It was the wrong colour pile. If they were left there, the dark blue denim would turn all the whites grey. Standing half naked in the middle of the room, Talbot decided he didn’t need to point that out to the other man right then.

He glanced across at the sink in the corner of the room instead. “I should probably…”

Gunnar didn’t seem to be listening. He didn’t step back to let Talbot pass so he could clean himself up the way the omega expected he would. He moved forwards and put his hands on either side of Talbot’s waist.

Talbot let out a startled little gasp as the larger man picked him up and sat him on the old work bench that ran along the wall opposite the washing machines. A large palm came to rest on Talbot’s chest and nudged him to lie back on the bench, still naked from his waist down.

“What are you…?” Talbot trailed off as it quickly became obvious that the other man still wasn’t listening to a word he said.

Lacking any way to influence what happened next, all Talbot could do was watch in silent fascination as Gunnar lowered his head. A dart of pink was his only warning before the beta’s tongue licked its way along his softened shaft.

Talbot jerked at the first intimate touch of the other man’s mouth. Gunnar’s only response was to settle his hands more firmly on either side of Talbot’s torso and pin him down more determinedly against the battered work top.

Talbot’s hands rushed to the other man’s shoulders in return. His fingers slid against Gunnar’s shirt as he whimpered.

It was too soon for him to take any real pleasure from the attention being paid to his cock right then. His shaft was far too sensitive, the tip too tender. Talbot’s head dropped back against the hard bench. His teeth bit into his bottom lip as he tried to hold back a moan and failed. He managed to lift his head and look down his body just as Gunnar glanced up.

The beta was just licking him clean, Talbot told himself, that was all. It shouldn’t feel like the most amazing thing he’d ever experienced. It shouldn’t be enough to make him really glad that he’d come in his jeans either.

Talbot was sure he should feel silly and embarrassed and a million other terrible things, but with Gunnar’s grip on his hips so tight it was turning his skin white around his fingertips, it was impossible for him to feel anything except…

Talbot dropped his gaze, but the thought was still there in his head. It was impossible to feel anything except as if, for the first time in his life, he was right where he belonged—because he knew without any doubt that Gunnar wouldn’t tolerate him being exactly where he wanted him.

Talbot whimpered again as the beta’s tongue moved swiftly against him in agile, confident licks as it made its way over his crotch.
The omega’s hands fisted in Gunnar’s shirt.
The beta ignored that as much as he ignored his murmurs and moans. There was nothing Talbot could do but accept whatever attention the other man wanted to bestow upon him until the beta finally straightened up.

Even as he let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, Talbot found
himself
entirely unable to release his hold on the other wolf’s shirt. He was dragged into a sitting position as the older man pulled away, but the beta made no complaint about that. He let Talbot keep hold of him as he picked up his clean pair of trousers and put them on him without a word.

By the time their eyes met, Talbot was once more neatly dressed. He was reasonably sure that he looked as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Appearances could be so deceptive…

“You don’t want…?” Talbot asked, with as much strength in his voice as he could muster.

“There’s no time,” Gunnar informed him.

Talbot looked down, trying to hide his regrets as best he could. It seemed more and more likely that the beta wasn’t as interested in an omega lover as Talbot had hoped he might be.

“But there will be time, later,” Gunnar added.

Talbot blinked up at him.
Later…
Later, he’d be allowed to…his breath caught in his throat.

Gunnar hooked a finger under Talbot’s chin and demanded he look up. Their lips met. For the first time, Talbot tasted his own cum on another man’s tongue. He leaned quickly into the kiss, eager for more. When Gunnar suddenly stepped back, he almost fell off the counter top.

The beta only remained close for long enough to make sure he didn’t actually collapse in a messy heap on the floor before he half smiled and strode out of the utility room into the kitchen.

Stopping only to move his trousers to the appropriate pile and bury them in between enough other garments that he could be sure
the cum
stains wouldn’t be noticed, Talbot hurried after him.

He entered the kitchen just in time to see the alphas walk in through the door leading in from the courtyard.
Marsdon
had his arm around Bennett’s shoulders. They were laughing with each other, leaning in to each other’s touches.

That’s what it was like, being mated to someone. Talbot had come to understand that as he watched the other wolves in his pack. It meant having someone who was the other half of you so thoroughly it was impossible to imagine being with anyone else. It was perfect and special, and it was silly for an omega to think that he was going to be chosen by a wolf like Gunnar to—

 
“Talbot?”

He looked up.

Marsdon
beckoned him across to the counter and handed him the cutlery. He ruffled Talbot’s hair as he stepped past to pick up one of the platters of food that had been laid out on the counter top. Talbot managed a smile as he tried not to regret the way the alpha had casually wiped away any lingering sensation of Gunnar’s touch.

Stepping carefully in between the other wolves as everything was brought to the long pine table that filled the left hand side of the
kitchen,
Talbot let the noise and the fuss of a dozen men float over him. Laughter, teasing, bickering and everything else wasn’t relevant. He only had room in his head for one wolf.

Finally taking his seat, Talbot found he’d been placed next to
Caden
that day. The pretty young wolf immediately looked from him to where Gunnar sat opposite them, and back again.
Caden’s
eyes narrowed, as if there was a big flashing light above both their heads proclaiming exactly what they’d been getting up to that morning.

Gunnar’s brother seemed to have lost all interest in his food. When
Caden’s
attention moved to Alfred, Talbot felt the blood drain out of his face.

“Stop being a brat, Cade,” Gunnar muttered, half under his breath, as he leant forwards in his seat so only Talbot and his brother would hear him.

“I didn’t say anything,”
Caden
pointed out, perfectly mildly.

“Keep it that way,” Gunnar ordered, just a little louder.

“Play nicely, children,” Bennett advised from further down the table. The hint of warning in his tone made it clear he’d caught those last few words. “If you start to squabble at the dining table, you’ll end up going hungry.”

All the pack fell silent as they turned their attention to the food, but Talbot was well aware that
Caden
and Gunnar hadn’t actually stopped glaring at each other across the table. The brothers were good at relaying silent messages to each other—messages no other wolf in the pack could quite understand, even if they did manage to catch a fleeting glimpse of one of them.

Talbot could barely drag his gaze away from the staring match for long enough to take more than the occasional bite of his own food. His nerves were fraying by the time he heard one of his alphas clear his throat.