I could hardly believe what I was hearing. James was the most interesting person I’d ever met, but his story was horrifying, and I felt bad for being so curious. What must it have been like, to live in captivity like that? As a veteran who had grown up with free roam of the city streets, without a pack or any sort of important name, a mutt by all standards, I couldn’t imagine it.

That much control and pressure and importance, put on his life, and he was obviously still so young. How early had he even been sold off? This was exactly why we needed better laws. No wonder he hadn’t known how to avoid the alpha that had come after him. The poor guy had zero street smarts.

I felt a little guilty, finding him so beautiful, being so drawn to him. That had to be the reaction he got from every single alpha out there. I also felt protective. There had to be a way to keep James safe, to teach him some life skills, at least, before he was thrown back out into the dangerous world we lived in alone.

I hadn’t missed that he was rich, either, or that I desperately needed cash. I wasn’t the sort of person to ask for money if I had nothing to offer, but I wasn’t convinced that was true. Maybe I did have something to offer James. Most alphas wouldn’t fuck with an omega that was claimed, and I didn’t get clingy. I could act as a bodyguard for him. But before I could suggest it, or even listen to his answer about his life before the attack, we were interrupted by Tyler and Stefan arriving home.

“Hey, guys.” I quickly realized, as James stared at them with uncertainty, that he’d only met them while he was unconscious. “Oh, James. This is Stefan, my best friend, Tyler, his husband. They’re Tommy’s parents. Guys, this is James.”

As if on cue, Tommy started to cry, piercing all of our eardrums, and I winced. “He was asleep until you came home,” I laughed softly.

Stefan limped over to shake James’ hand. Tyler shot him a smile and then went into the nursery to care for his son.

“Hi there,” Stefan said, kneeling down so that he wasn’t above James, who sat on the couch. He offered his hand, and hesitantly, James shook it. He clearly smelled alpha all over Stefan, but Stefan gave him a gentle smile. “It’s nice to meet you. Awake, at least. You’re safe here, all right? No one will hurt you in this house.”

I watched James’ face, trying to encourage him silently to believe Stefan. I knew that what my best friend was true, but James just didn’t seem to be able to tell. I cleared my throat.

“Why don’t I walk you home?”

James pulled on the t-shirt he’d had balled up in his hand and looked at me for a moment. He always had that look in his eye, like he was weighing the options, warring between his fear and his heart. I wanted so badly to do anything I could to make him feel safe, even if that meant leaving him alone entirely.

“It’s up to you,” I reminded him.

“Yes,” he suddenly blurted. “You can walk me home. But I’ll need shoes.”

“And a coat! It’s freezing out there,” Stefan insisted. Stefan stood and walked over to the coat rack, favoring one leg as usual. “You can borrow Tyler’s, you’re closer to his size.”

James was very quiet as Stefan gave him socks, shoes, and a jacket to borrow for the walk home. “Thank you,” he kept saying, whispering almost too quietly for me to hear him, but I saw him murmuring it over and over to Stefan as he put on the clothing.

Stefan glanced at me with questions in his eyes. I had almost as many questions myself. With what James had told me about his upbringing, I could rationalize, sort of, why he was acting the way he was. But it was still hard for me to fully understand on an emotional level. I couldn’t truly imagine.

I silently promised to talk to Stefan about it another time.

“Thanks,” I gave him a quick hug and peeked my head in to the nursery to say goodbye to Tyler and Tommy. “I’ll see you later.”

James silently nodded to them, although he might have whispered ‘thank you’, again. His lips moved, but it was too quiet for me to register. I resisted the urge to wrap my arm around him as I led him out of the apartment building. It was late at night, past midnight, and snow fell in thick, soft flakes, settling in James’ hair and sticking to the ground around us. The cold made me want to protect him and coddle him even more, but I kept a small distance between us, prioritizing his sense of safety. The crisp night air burned a little in my lungs, so cold it was as if the universe was trying to remind us we were alive.

I didn’t know where he lived, so I let him lead. As we walked, I realized he probably felt uncertain about leading me to his home address.

“If you want me to go away, I will,” I promised, suddenly blurting it out, just to remind him.

To my surprise, he turned to me with a little smile that made my heart thump harder in my chest. “No. I feel safer with you than without you,” he admitted.

It was one of the sweeter things that anyone had ever said to me, and it meant even more coming from James. I smiled widely.

“Really? You know, if you need someone to protect you, I could use the job. You could hire me as your bodyguard.”

James laughed softly. “A bodyguard? I’m not sure I need that, but thanks.”

I chuckled with him. He was right. It was sort of a ridiculous idea, I just hated to think of the gorgeous omega being attacked again. I really wanted to make sure he was safe.

I walked him all the way to his apartment building, and he even led me inside, up the elevator, to his door. We paused there, and I tucked my hands into my pockets, feeling just a little awkward.

“It was really nice to meet you, James,” I told him sincerely. I wanted to say more than that, but it wasn’t worth scaring him. James trusted me, and he didn’t seem to trust anyone else in pretty much the whole world. I wasn’t going to screw that up.

James smiled up at me, a strange look in his eyes, like a cat about to pounce. He went up on his tiptoes and to my surprise, he leaned in and kissed me, pressing his soft mouth against my own.

“Thank you, Ben. For your help, for everything.”

I was stunned. I’d thought that intense kiss while he’d been vulnerable at Stefan’s house was probably as far as we would ever go. But this soft, sweet one, it was more than just thank you or goodnight. It lingered on my lips. It was a question.

I let instinct take over. I wrapped my strong arm around his waist and pulled him in against me, pressing my lips to his once more. This time I kissed him a little harder, pushing my tongue into his mouth. I was ready for him to pull back or push me away at any moment, but instead a soft moan escaped his lips and he wrapped his arms around the back of my neck, dragging my inside of his apartment.

I groaned, pushing him against the closest wall, feeling his warm body press against my own, his hips arching up toward mine.

“You’re not fucking me,” he murmured firmly against my lips.

“I won’t,” I promised breathlessly, and he nodded, taking my hand in his own.

He pulled me to his room, stripping his t-shirt off so I could see him again. I stepped in close to admire his lean body, my fingers tracing his smooth, blemish-free skin. Not even a freckle. He was so pale, so thin. I wanted to feed him and take him to the beach, but he hadn’t promised anything, I reminded myself. I had one night to enjoy this gorgeous young man, and it wasn’t nearly enough.

He shivered as my fingers moved their way up his arm, to his shoulder and throat. I touched his soft auburn hair, cut into a strange, awkward shape that didn’t really suit him at all. Was it the first haircut he’d ever chosen for himself?

“Don’t touch me,” he said suddenly. I blinked, pulling my hand back.

“Wait, I thought...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

But he was still gazing at me with desire in his eyes. “Just...let me touch you,” he whispered. He pressed a hand to my chest and backed me toward the bed. “Lay down.”

I smirked a little. It was strange, an omega giving an alpha orders, but I didn’t object. James seemed like this was all pretty new to him. I lay back on the bed, and he took my wrists, putting them above my head.

“Just… stay like that, okay? Keep your hands there.”

I groaned softly. There was something very erotic about being forced to lay captive, unable to touch, while James straddled me, wearing just a pair of borrowed sweats. He stripped my clothing off of me, and I kept my arms there, trembling with need. My cock ached as his soft fingers explored my broad shoulders, his hazel eyes bright with curiosity, hungry for me, omega for alpha.

I hadn’t experienced that in a long time, and never with this intensity. But I didn’t want to think it, that we could be fated. I wasn’t cut out for that, and James was so skittish that just the mention of something like that was bound to drive him off.

His sweet lips caressed my pectoral, trailing toward my nipple, and I groaned helplessly, clenching my hands into fists but keeping them right where he wanted them, above my head, by the headboard, no danger to him. I let him explore without danger, even though my alpha knot was swollen and demanded attention.

Driving him off was the last thing I wanted.

I gasped when his hot little mouth wrapped around my nipple, sucking it in a way that sent shivers straight down my spine, all the way to my aching dick. Arching toward him, I folded my fingers together and placed my hands behind my head, shuddering. It took more willpower than I’d thought to resist reaching down to touch him, even just to pull his head in closer and encourage that incredible mouth, suckling tenderly. My cock dribbled precome onto my thigh, and I’d have loved to shove him down there, too, but he wasn’t ready. He needed time.

I groaned, my fingers twitching. Itching, almost, to move. I wanted to shove my hands down even just to grab at the sheets, but I didn’t. They stayed trapped between my head and the pillow as he trailed his lips lower and lower.

“James,” I whispered. “Fuck, that’s good, you’re driving me crazy.”

The longer it went on, the more I saw the appeal of the game. A little grin crossed over my lips. It was frustrating, yes, to not be able to be touch the beautiful omega, but who hadn’t fantasized once or twice about being utterly worshipped? It wasn’t often that an alpha got to lay on their back and become a pillow princess. James might not realize it, but he serviced me and I didn’t have to do a damn thing in return. The more I embraced it, the easier it got. I relaxed and watched as he kissed my hip bones and stroked my strong, muscular thighs, gazing with hunger and uncertainty at my cock.

I was pretty thick, and stood at attention for him, the head of my cock swollen dark pink and dripping. At the base of my cock was a swollen ball of flesh, wider than the rest. My alpha knot. He had heard of such things, surely, but when I saw the look in his eyes, I realized that he’d never seen one before.

“You don’t need to be afraid of me,” I murmured. “I won’t hurt you.” How many times had I reassured him of that already? I would reassure him a hundred more, and as many times as it took, until he knew that what happened between us was completely up to him.

A slow grin spread over his face.

“I’m not,” he said softly, with a tone of realization, and then he lowered his head and wrapped his perfect pink mouth around my dick.