The Duty of a Beta (15 page)

The little wolf just continued to stare up at him, so lost, so confused, but without any doubt so submissive, too.

Somehow resisting the urge to ruffle the pup’s hair or press a kiss to his temple, Gunnar kept his tone serious and his words strong. “You said you’re an omega. Tell me what that means.”

“I…” was all Talbot managed to say.

“Tell me what a beta is, then,” Gunnar ordered.

Talbot cleared his throat. “Strong,” he blurted out.

Gunnar nodded for him to continue.

“In charge.
Confident.”
More words followed, tumbling out as Talbot seemed to scramble to fill the silence as quickly as possible.

Finally Gunnar reached out and put a fingertip to his lips. “That’s enough. Now, I’ll tell you what a good omega is like.”

Talbot couldn’t have looked more terrified if Gunnar had lifted a hand to strike him.

“Omegas are sweet, and gentle, and good. They prefer to follow rather than lead. They like to obey more dominant wolves. They like to be held and petted and fussed over. They like to be controlled—sometimes they like to be held down, or even tied up, and that’s good too. They’re inclined to forgive their mates for being bossy or demanding—just as they’re inclined to make them feel protective and possessive as hell. Omegas are a perfect match for a certain kind of beta.”

Talbot swallowed rapidly. A blush stained his cheeks a very pretty pink as he finally seemed to realise that there weren’t going to be any insults thrown at him. Gunnar smiled as he stroked the heated flesh with his thumb. Over time he was going to come to realise that there was nothing to be ashamed of in his rank—he was going to realise that an omega was exactly what his mate wanted.

“There’s only one wolf in this room who needs to step in front of his mate and keep him safe, only one wolf who needs to defend his mate,” Gunnar said, very seriously. “What happened with the alphas today—you trying to rescue me—that doesn’t happen again.”

“I just—”

“Wanted to take the blame, to pretend you made all the decisions for us, to let me hide behind you?” Gunnar asked. “You think that’s what I’d want you to do, that I’d let you get hurt so that I could get away scot free?”

Talbot shook his head.

“I love that you tried, angel,” Gunnar told the omega, as gently as he could. “But don’t try to be a beta for me. Because one thing you forgot to mention in your description is that betas are right bossy bastards. One of them is more than enough for any relationship.”

Talbot’s eyes opened very wide. He tried to bite back a smile, but he wasn’t sure he did a very good job of it. He was pretty sure Gunnar had to have noticed that. When he saw the look in the beta’s eyes he lost any doubts he might have had.

Gunnar smiled back at him. He stroked his fingers through his hair, tugging gently at the strands in the process. “Yes, I’m aware of my faults, little one. But that doesn’t mean I want you to start trying to replicate them, understand?”

Talbot nodded.

“I want an omega,” Gunnar whispered in his ear. “I’ve wanted an omega since the first day I joined this pack. I’ve loved an omega since not long after that, too. But all you did was act like you were terrified of me and run away every time I got close.”

Talbot shook his head. “I didn’t—”

“Don’t argue,” Gunnar cut in, as he pressed a finger against his lips once more. “It doesn’t suit you, and you’re not half
so
good at it as I am.”

One of his hands was still on the back of Talbot’s head. It guided Talbot forwards until his head came to rest on the beta’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but lean into Gunnar’s body and snuggle slightly against the larger man’s strength now that he suddenly felt welcome to do that.

“
This
suits you,” Gunnar whispered to him.

The bare skin above the beta’s shirt collar was right in front of Talbot’s lips, far too tempting to resist, especially because it seemed just about possible that he was allowed to give in to his desires now. He licked at his neck.

Gunnar chuckled as he pressed his lips against the top of his head in return, making Talbot smile.

Once the beta coaxed him to look up, he transferred the kiss to his lips instead. And within seconds, every thought in Talbot’s head had melted away like spring snow in the bright morning sunlight. He was barely even aware of what was happening until he toppled backwards onto the mattress.

Gunnar tumbled down onto the bed with him, but he seemed to hover in the air just above him rather than land with him in the tangle of limbs the omega would have expected. As the kiss ended, Talbot opened his eyes. Gunnar loomed over him, his hands resting on the mattress to either side of Talbot’s shoulders.

“Mine.”

Talbot nodded.

“When I want you to stay silent, I’ll gag you,” Gunnar informed him. His lips twisted into a little smile.

Talbot stared at his lips, thoroughly enchanted. He’d hardly ever seen the habitually serious wolf smile that way at anyone, and now he was smiling like that at him. Now his
mate
was smiling at him…

“And if I want you to stay still, I’ll hold you in place,” the beta went on. “Or maybe just tie you up.”

Talbot met his mate’s gaze as the image of that possibility jumped into the front of his mind. It was so easy to picture it. He could almost swear that he could feel the bindings wrap around his wrists as they spoke.

Gunnar chuckled again, a full, rich sound, but somehow also a joyous one. “Do you like that idea, little one?”

Talbot swallowed.

“I meant what I said about gagging you, Tal. Speak up if you want to keep the ability to say another word during the rest of the evening.”

Talbot tried to make words happen, but his lips didn’t seem to want to move.

Gunnar pulled away. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

Talbot jerked up into a half-sitting position. He reached out and caught hold of the edge of Gunnar’s shirt, tugging at it, trying to get his attention.

“I like that idea,” he finally managed to stutter out, as Gunnar glanced back at him.

The beta smiled over his shoulder at him.

Talbot blushed—there was no way anyone would have been able to doubt the honesty in his voice, or the enthusiasm in it.

“You’re not tied up yet,” Gunnar said. “And I want you naked.”

It took Talbot a few seconds to put those two facts together and form them into an order. As soon as he did, he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. He reached for the buckle on his belt as soon as the thin cotton hit the floor.

Still sitting in the middle of the mattress, Talbot scrambled out of the rest of his clothes, as if they were burning his skin from tip to toe and his only chance of survival was to bare his skin before the other man—as if some part of him really thought that rubbing his skin against the beta’s body would somehow put out the flames—or maybe allow the blaze to consume him completely. Either outcome seemed perfectly acceptable to Talbot right then.

Gunnar sat on the edge of the bed and watched him perfectly calmly. When everything that he could remove had been tossed off the bed, Talbot knelt in the centre of the blanket, his cock hard and his breath coming in shallow gasps.

“You too?” he asked, as his eyes ran over Gunnar’s T-shirt and his jeans. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew they were a mistake. Gunnar would think he was challenging him, trying to take control, and that was the one thing he knew a beta would never accept in a mate.

The only thing that stopped an apology leaving Talbot’s lips was the way his throat closed up in panic. But, somehow, the frown he expected to flash across the beta’s face didn’t appear.

Gunnar smiled slightly as he stood up. “Have you ever challenged another wolf?”

Talbot shook his head.

“Then I’d be a fool to think you were going to start today, wouldn’t I?”

Strong hands moved deftly as Gunnar quickly stripped himself down. Talbot watched, fascinated by and completely in love with every inch of his new mate in equal measure, and there was no need to lower his eyes for a single second. Part of Talbot started to understand that.

He was an omega and Gunnar was a beta. They both knew that. They both liked that. There was no need to make it obvious with his eyes.

Gunnar tossed every scrap of his clothing away, but as soon as he was stripped down to his bare skin, he picked up his belt again. The moment Talbot glanced at
it,
all thought of where he should keep his gaze became irrelevant. It was impossible for him to look away from the length of brown leather.

The larger wolf ran the belt through his fingers very slowly. Talbot swallowed. He didn’t think. Instinct took over. He leant forward and pressed a kiss to the back of Gunnar’s hand just where the leather was looped around his skin.

Gunnar brushed the leather across Talbot’s cheek when he looked up at the beta.

“Do you like that?”

Talbot nodded, pressing another kiss against the other man’s belt. He remembered the threat of the gag. “I like it,” he whispered. And he was pretty sure it was something that it was very okay for a beta’s mate to like a great deal.

Gunnar caught hold of his wrist without another word. He rubbed the leather across it, teasing Talbot with the prospect of it being secured against his skin.

Talbot glanced towards the headboard of Gunnar’s bed. It was made in a different style than his own, smaller bed frame. There were no rails for the beta to tie his hands to. Talbot looked back to Gunnar for advice.

Gunnar didn’t waste another moment. Tugging both of Talbot’s hands behind his back, he quickly wrapped the leather around them.

Talbot looked over his
shoulder,
watching as well as he could as the older man’s hands worked deftly to bind him to himself.

The next second, Talbot found himself falling forwards. All it took was a gentle push against his shoulders and he toppled helplessly away from the beta. He tugged at his bonds, but they held true. There was no way he could stop himself landing face first on the bed.

He closed his eyes, as if that might somehow help ease his landing, but halfway down he suddenly stopped, suspended in mid air. The belt tightened against his wrists, as if someone was holding it.

Talbot opened his eyes. The pressure against his wrists changed. The bed slowly rose up to meet him as he found himself being lowered gently to the mattress. His cock brushed against the bedding.

Gunnar laughed when Talbot whimpered at the sensation, but he continued his unhurried descent regardless. Gradually, every bit of Talbot’s body came to rest on the soft blankets. Turning his head, he let his cheek come to rest on the bed, too.

A second later, he felt the mattress move beneath him as Gunnar rearranged himself on the bed with him. The beta’s skin brushed against him as the larger man covered Talbot’s body with his own.

Talbot flexed his fingers. They were trapped between their bodies now. He could feel Gunnar’s skin against his palms, but there were no decisions for him to make. There was no choosing where his hands should go, where he wanted to touch the other man. The decision had been made for him, and Talbot couldn’t have loved Gunnar more for that.

The older man rocked his hips and his cock rubbed against the cleft between Talbot’s buttocks. He tried to spread his legs for the other man, but the beta’s knees rested on the bed just outside his. He was trapped, unable to offer himself to his mate the way he desperately wanted to.

Talbot whimpered his frustration into the sheet as Gunnar kissed his neck, nipping gently at his skin. He wriggled beneath the larger man, but there was nothing he could do, nowhere
he could
go. All he could do was accept whatever his lover chose to give him. “Please?” Talbot whispered.

Gunnar’s lips moved against his skin as he smiled.

Talbot automatically smiled into the blankets in response, pleased that he had pleased the other man in some way. If Gunnar wanted to hear him beg, Talbot was happy to oblige.

He opened his eyes and stared along the bedspread just in time to see Gunnar’s hand slide under the pillow and extract a tube of lube. Apparently, begging wasn’t necessary.

A second later, the beta’s hands were slipping underneath him. Gunnar lifted Talbot’s hips until he was able to get his knees back beneath him. It was impossible for Talbot to reach out and put his hands on the mattress to lift the front half of his body. His weight came to rest on his shoulders, arching his body up into a strange shape as his hands remained firmly bound behind his back.

There was no need to be embarrassed about having his arse up in the air in offering. He was arranged the way his mate wanted, and there was nothing that could have felt more natural to Talbot than that. And there was no need to struggle to make thoughts happen once Gunnar’s slicked fingers began to work their way into his hole either. His mate was in control of the whole world. All Talbot could do was
whimper
and moan, and throw in the occasional begging murmur.

Gunnar didn’t say a word. It was as if he knew any and every decision was his, and that Talbot wouldn’t want it to be any other way. He had the complete confidence not even to need to ask Talbot his opinion on whatever was going to happen between them.