The Duty of a Beta (2 page)

The hot water failed to cool his lust in the least.

As Gunnar looked back at the omega, he found Talbot staring up at him with something dangerously close to hero worship in his eyes and what couldn’t be anything but desire in his scent. Even the torrent pouring down over them couldn’t disguise a wolf’s scent that much.

Helpless to resist him a moment longer, Gunnar took half a step forward. He only just had time to catch a brief glimpse of the surprise that flashed across the omega’s face before be brought their lips together.

Hot and strong and perfect—and so much better than anything Talbot had been able to imagine when he lay alone in his bed and tried to guess what it might be like to feel the beta’s mouth against his.

As Gunnar’s tongue swept past Talbot’s lips and demanded entry to his mouth, the omega’s hands grappled at the other wolf’s shoulders. Gunnar was so much taller than
him,
he’d had to dip his head into what had to be a very uncomfortable angle to kiss him. Talbot quickly stretched up onto his toes in order to make their mouths meet more easily.

Suddenly the larger man stepped forwards and Talbot found his back pressed against the cold, wet tiles. It wasn’t just their mouths that touched then. Gunnar’s body pressed against him everywhere.

Talbot’s cock rubbed against the other wolf’s bare skin again and again as the beta pinned him against the wall with his whole body. A whimper echoed around the bathroom, a soft, pleasure filled, needy little sound that could never have come from Gunnar.

Another whimper escaped from the back of Talbot’s throat. He’d never even realised he could sound like that before , but now that the ability had been unearthed, it was impossible for him to keep the little whimpers and moans back from the wider world.

The beta’s tongue danced against his, seeming to purposely coax more and more desperate sounds out of him with each second that passed. The beta even encouraged Talbot to kiss him back, but he never went so far as to give up the lead to him.

Talbot had no doubt that Gunnar had scooped up every ounce of control that existed and claimed possession of each and every bit of it for himself the moment their lips met, and he couldn’t have been happier about that.

Talbot’s hands fumbled against the other man’s shoulders, clumsily trying to pull him closer, to get more of anything and everything the other wolf was willing to offer him before the beta had a chance to change his mind.

Suddenly Gunnar growled against his lips. The next second, strong hands were wrapped around Talbot’s wrists. His fingers were jerked away from the beta’s skin so quickly shock ricocheted through Talbot’s body. He gasped as Gunnar pressed his wrists against the tiles on either side of his head.

The beta’s growl turned to a pleased, triumphant little noise as Talbot instinctively tried to move his arms, failed, and quickly fell still. A shot of pure bliss raced through Talbot’s veins as he realised that he’d somehow stumbled onto an action Gunnar approved of.

The larger man took another half a pace forward, but Talbot’s back was already to the wall. There was no way he could retreat. All he could do was spread his legs slightly and make room for the other man’s feet between his.

The new arrangement once more brought his cock into intimate contact with the beta’s thigh. Talbot moaned his pleasure as the water-slicked skin teased the tip of his erection.

“Please,” he whispered, as Gunnar briefly broke the kiss.

The request was greeted by a new growl, but Talbot couldn’t look down and display his submission the way he usually would. He couldn’t have turned his lips away from the possibility of another kiss if his life had depended on it.

After so many months of watching the beta, and of hating himself for hoping that Gunnar might glance in his direction rather than Alfred’s, he wasn’t capable of turning away from anything the older man was willing to offer him.

Gunnar rocked his hips slightly, twitching his leg between Talbot’s thighs and teasing his shaft. Talbot’s hands clenched into fists above the beta’s hold on his wrists. He whimpered and squirmed against the tiles, desperately trying to work out how to complement the other man’s movements as bliss rushed into his body and his moans mingled with the sound of the shower still pouring down around them.

Instincts that Talbot had never explored slowly made their way to the surface. His body began to move in perfect counterpoint to Gunnar’s. Water ran over him, teasing his skin wherever it wasn’t pressed tightly against the other wolf’s larger frame. Every inch of him sung out in pleasure as the more dominant wolf deftly took possession of his whole
body,
and with it a little part of his soul.

Whimpering into a new kiss, Talbot frantically tried to hold back as he felt himself rushing towards his orgasm. It was impossible to stop his ascent towards pleasure. He needed to come so badly and the pressure built quickly inside him, doubling over and over again.

Pulling at Gunnar’s grip on his wrist, he tried to free his hands, to slow them down just enough for him to be able to scrape up a little bit of control.

The beta would be angry with him if he came before they could even mate properly. And he didn’t want Gunnar to be angry with him. Talbot needed Gunnar to be pleased with him so badly he could barely breathe through his desperation. He needed the wolf he—

Talbot didn’t even have time to finish the thought. Gunnar’s grip tightened around his wrists, his growl vibrated against his lips and he casually threw Talbot over the edge he’d barely managed to scramble back from a few seconds earlier.

Pleasure tore through the omega, deeper and hotter than anything he’d ever felt while experimenting with his own hand. Suddenly he found himself trapped in a cascade of ecstasy that was capable of searing its way through his mind and branding the deepest part of his mind.

Gunnar swallowed Talbot’s howl, muffling the sound with his lips. Then, just a second after Talbot fell still, the beta broke the kiss. Gunnar tossed his own head back, but he remained completely silent as he came. The beta was just as in control of
himself
as he was of Talbot—maybe even more so.

Talbot had to blink water out of his eyes, and even then his vision seemed muzzy with afterglow, but there was no denying that the beta was glorious. Talbot stared up at him, completely entranced.

Gunnar’s muscles tensed, his hips thrust forward again, rubbing his cock against Talbot’s hip. Cum splashed against him as Gunnar came, but the water quickly washed it away. With his hands still trapped against the tiles, there was nothing Talbot could do but helplessly watch it disappear under the force of the spray.

Gunnar didn’t disappear though, the beta was still there and his body was still pressed against Talbot, holding him against the wall.

When Gunnar looked down he caught Talbot staring up at his face. For a few seconds, his expression was unreadable. Then, without any warning, Gunnar pulled away. Talbot thought he caught a fleeting change of expression, before a wall seemed to go up behind the older man’s eyes.

Talbot looked down. He’d been right to try to hold back, and so very wrong to give in to the temptation of his own release. The other man was angry with him, so obviously disappointed in his lack of control. He’d had one chance to impress the other man and show the beta he could please him, and he’d ruined it.

The breath caught in Talbot’s throat as regrets rushed through him fast enough to make his head spin. There was no way Gunnar would want him to be available to him again now. He wondered for a second if admitting his complete lack of experience would convince the other wolf to give him another chance, or if it would be another black mark against him in Gunnar’s book.

A movement out of the corner of his eye caught Talbot’s attention. The beta was reaching for the shower gel again. Talbot watched as the older man poured some onto his own hand before silently offering the bottle to him.

Talbot automatically followed the more dominant man’s lead and copied the other wolf’s actions.

Gunnar worked the gel into
a lather
between his palms. Talbot did the same.

Part of him had hoped that perhaps he’d feel the beta’s hands on him, and that he’d be allowed to finish washing the other man too, but when Gunnar turned his attention to his own body Talbot didn’t have the courage to do anything but do the same thing himself.

They showered next to each other, sharing the spray without exchanging another touch or a single word. When Gunnar was finished, he quickly moved out of range of the water and snatched up a towel. Talbot lingered under the heat for a little while longer, not sure what the beta would prefer him to do.

The older man briskly dried his body, rubbing the rough towelling against his skin and his hair as if nothing at all unusual had happened while he was in the shower.

Talbot couldn’t help but stare, couldn’t do anything other than glory in every glimpse he was permitted of the other man’s body in a moment that seemed curiously intimate and private.

He was so scared of doing the wrong
thing,
the omega did nothing, until Gunnar finally tossed his towel into the hamper and strode out of the room, shutting the door behind him without ever looking back at him.

Talbot closed his eyes as he found himself alone once more. He stood there perfectly still and silent for several long seconds before he was able to convince himself to reach out and turn off the taps.

The silence that filled the room after the last few drops of water fell was almost deafening. Talbot reached out and touched the wall behind the
shower,
stroking his fingers across the tiles Gunnar had held him against as they…

A blush rose to Talbot’s cheeks as he lowered his gaze.

Turning away from the wall, he swiftly dried himself off and hurried back to his bedroom to get dressed. Just as he suspected, he’d spent too long daydreaming after the beta left. He was the last wolf to arrive at the breakfast table and it was impossible for him to take his place without his tardiness being noticed.

Bennett frowned slightly as he spotted him sneaking in late, and Talbot was well aware that the alpha’s attention was still on him when he rose from the table at the end of the meal.

“Talbot.”

Stopping halfway across the room, en route to leaving his plate by the sink, the omega turned to face his alpha.

“Is everything okay?” Bennett asked as he reached his side.

Talbot nodded.

Bennett didn’t look at all convinced.

Talbot scraped up a half-smile to go with another nod. “I just ran late,” he whispered.

The alpha smiled then, as if he understood what was going on. Reaching out, he ruffled Talbot’s hair as he walked past him with his own plate. “Well, don’t worry about that. There’s no harm done, is there?”

Talbot shook his head.

“Go on,” Bennett allowed with another smile. “See to your duties.”

Leaving his plate next to the others on the counter ready for whichever wolf
who
was on kitchen duty that day to attend to, Talbot quickly made his way upstairs as most of the other wolves left the house to take care of that morning’s tasks outdoors.

The laundry hampers in the bathrooms were all heavy and cumbersome, and most of them were full to the brim. Decanting some of the contents of the first one into a smaller, more manageable basket, Talbot gradually took the first few loads of washing down to the old pantry, off the kitchen.

Working methodically and almost entirely by rote while his thoughts persistently strayed back to his time in the shower, Talbot began to sort the clothes into various piles and load the first batch into the machine.

The sound of the whirling motor soon took over the room. The contraption was old. It tended to sound as if it would explode at any second, but that day, Talbot barely spared it a glance before he picked up his basket and went to fetch more laundry from the upstairs rooms.

He was halfway through retrieving the contents of the various hampers when the first load finished. Pulling it all out of the machine, Talbot dumped it in another basket. The weight of the water made the clothes much heavier than they had been when they were dry. Talbot’s shoulders protested as he heaved the wicker carrier towards the door.

A glance into the kitchen showed
Steffan
was still at the sink, just finishing with the first of his chores that day. The larger wolf quickly dried his hands and strode across to take the basket from Talbot when he spotted him.

Giving it up without a fight, Talbot meekly followed the
Steffan
out into the garden at the back of the farm house. The sun was shining. It wouldn’t take long for the clothes to dry, but Talbot couldn’t spare much thought for the weather. He wasn’t even sure he’d have noticed if the rain was pouring down around them.

He looked in every direction and peered around every corner they passed, but Gunnar was nowhere to be seen.

“Are you okay, Tal?”

Talbot jumped as he spun around to face
Steffan
. The bigger wolf was standing patiently at one end of the washing line, holding the basket for him.

Rushing to catch up, Talbot quickly picked up the topmost item of
clothing,
snatched two wooden pegs from the bag attached to the basket and hung it up. “I’m fine.”