26. Ollie
Ollie kneeled between Deke’s splayed thighs, really taking him in for the first time in days. They were both naked, Deke staring up at him with a timidity Ollie hadn’t known he possessed. Now that Deke was his—in every way—he could acknowledge the truth he’d been ignoring for days.
The boy was beautiful. Not handsome, not sexy…well, those too, but above all that, he was just so fucking pretty. Pretty like sunsets and museum sculptures. Pretty in that way wolves were pretty. Majestic almost. Far too pretty for someone like Ollie. Too pretty for most people.
And he was all Ollie’s. This beautiful, powerful, intense predator was all his, lying beneath him, wide-eyed and flushed, almost timid. How had Ollie gotten so fucking lucky? It wasn’t luck—at least, not according to Loch. It was destiny. The universe had designed Deke just for Ollie and vice versa. Even if their genders weren’t compatible. Even if Ollie had convinced himself he was meant to live a whole other life.
Deke flushed under his scrutiny with an embarrassed whine, all traces of the alpha long gone. Ollie cupped his face, giving him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. They were both too raw, too vulnerable after what had transpired over the last few days. Deke’s alpha aggression and Ollie’s overtly submissive beta were so the antithesis of who they were in their day-to-day lives that it left both feeling shell-shocked. Ollie needed to restore the balance between them, the dynamic they’d had before the hormones took over.
He needed something to ground him back to reality. They both did. Topping Deke—taking him slowly—could possibly tip the scales back into balance. And if Ollie was being truthful, he just needed the intimacy of it. He needed to bury himself in the warmth of Deke’s body and try to remember they were in this together.
Deke trembled beneath him, his expression nervous. Ollie was used to many versions of Deke: hyper, loud, bold, sly. The ever-present knowing look in those feline eyes, like he could read people’s minds. But this Deke was new. Timid. Vulnerable. He stared up at Ollie with a trust that blew a hole through his chest and made him ache with the need to protect what was his.
It struck Ollie then. This was technically Deke’s first time. He’d admitted he had very little memory of the things they’d done when his rut had taken over and he’d once told Ollie that he’d never gotten further than a couple of awkward make-out sessions. Ollie wished he could say the same. He’d kill for a do-over right now. To experience everything again, but with Deke in full control of his senses.
“Are you nervous?” Ollie asked, rubbing his hands over Deke’s thighs, the coarse hair tickling his palms.
Deke’s gaze slid away from him and he swallowed hard before he nodded.
Ollie closed the gap between them, hovering over Deke, arms bracketing either side of his head, their bodies not touching. “We don’t have to do this.”
Deke gave him a sullen look. “Ever?” he blurted. “We’re mated…for life. Am I so unappealing you’d agree to a sexless marriage?”
Ollie snorted, a smile playing at his lips. When Deke continued to give him a flat stare, Ollie shook his head. “You can’t be serious? First of all, nobody in the world could find you unappealing. Nobody. Second, even if you never wanted to bottom, it doesn’t mean we’re in a ‘sexless marriage.’ Hell, even if neither of us wanted to, we wouldn’t be in a sexless marriage. There are so many other ways to get off together.”
Ollie let his gaze travel lower, between their bodies, taking in how hard Deke was, his heavy cock lying against his belly. Ollie was hard, too. Saying the word marriage so many times made him dizzy. They were—in society’s eyes—married. But more than that, they were mated…for life. There was no getting rid of that mark, and those who had tried had suffered dire consequences.
He didn’t want that for Deke, for either of them. And though some part of Ollie thought he should be angry and shouting, lashing out at Deke, another part knew that just wasn’t who he was as a person. Besides, their new bond allowed him to feel exactly how afraid Deke was. The quivering inside Ollie, the one that had his organs quaking, was all Deke. He was swimming in guilt and fear, so sure Ollie would eventually come to resent him.
Ollie hated seeing him like this.
He wanted his cocky boy back. The one who had moved into Ollie’s room on day one and never left. The one who stole his jackets and his pillows and who slept too close to Ollie every night no matter how many times he gently moved him away. The one who never stopped talking until Ollie gave him a look and even then would stay close by in silence just to be in his presence.
Ollie brushed his lips over Deke’s in a featherlight kiss that made goosebumps erupt along the other’s skin. “I’m lucky to have you.”
Deke’s gaze snapped back to his. “Shut up,” he whined in a tone that implied just the opposite.
“It’s true.” Ollie continued to brush barely-there kisses over Deke’s face, his cheeks, his nose, his eyes. When he got to his ear, he nipped at it lightly. “You’re way out of my league.” A jolt of heat raced through him and Ollie knew that was all Deke, too. He laughed low against his ear. “You like hearing that? That you’re out of my league?”
Instead of answering, Deke buried his hands in Ollie’s hair, dragging him down to crash their mouths together, so different from the confident alpha of the last few days it made Ollie ache. He let him control the sloppy, slightly off-center kiss for a moment before closing his hands over Deke’s baby-soft cheeks, tilting his head to bring their lips together properly, his dick throbbing at the way the younger boy melted beneath him, opening for him so easily.
Ollie licked his way inside but kept the kiss soft, almost lazy, enjoying the needy sounds Deke made and the way his hands roamed restlessly along his back and ass, like he just needed Ollie closer. After another impatient whine, Ollie acquiesced, letting his weight settle between Deke’s legs. The boy immediately canted his hips, grinding his cock against Ollie’s, trying to coax him into some kind of rhythm.
Ollie ignored his clumsy attempts at frotting, breaking the kiss, his lips following the trail of bruises he’d left behind like bread crumbs, mouthing over each one, sucking until they were once again an angry deep purple. Deke wasn’t the only one who liked to mark his territory.
A thrill ran through Ollie every time he remembered Deke was his. That he was free to fuck him senseless for the rest of their lives. That they’d wear each other’s marks forever. And that feeling was all Ollie. Whether it was a mistake or fate, Ollie had somehow lucked into mating with the most beautiful boy in the whole world. He refused to squander that.
“Fuck, you look so hot like this,” Ollie whispered against his skin. “Covered in my bruises.”
Deke whined, hips kicking upwards like he couldn’t stop himself, his sharp nails digging half-moon shapes into Ollie’s back. He continued his travels, biting at Deke’s jaw, laving his tongue over their mating mark before sucking on it in a way that made Deke cry out, his cock leaking between them. Had he always been this sensitive or was this new? Was it Ollie? The mating mark? Both?
When Deke gave a frustrated sob, Ollie gave in for a moment, rocking his hips against him, letting their erections slot together, the pressure making them both groan loudly in the otherwise silent room.
“Ollie, please,” Deke begged. “Do something. Touch me. I’m so fucking hard it hurts.”
“I am touching you,” Ollie teased, but he was already moving lower, sucking the mark over Deke’s left nipple, the one on his sternum, his ribs, dragging his tongue along each of the deep scratch marks Ollie had left on him as he’d fucked himself desperately on Deke’s knot…begging to be fucked and bred and mated.
The trail ended at Deke’s belly button, forcing Ollie back onto his knees in order to continue. Deke’s cock rested just below. Ollie licked over the head, digging his tongue into his slit, pleased when Deke’s hands tangled in his hair, bucking upwards, trying to push himself farther past Ollie’s lips. Ollie moved away, earning a growl.
Ollie chuckled softly, settling on his stomach between Deke’s splayed knees. “Bend your knees.”
Deke pouted at the order but did as he was told. Ollie pushed his legs open roughly, burying his face in the scent gland there, earning a shocked yell. Ollie didn’t pay it any mind. He gave a dirty moan as he inhaled his mate’s scent, rocking his cock against the mattress for some much-needed friction.
Deke squirmed beneath him, his legs trembling. Ollie placed a kiss on his thigh before delving lower, licking over Deke’s balls then burying his face just below. “God, your scent…I want to huff it like paint. I want to roll around in it, bury myself in it, in you.”
Deke’s fingers tightened in Ollie’s hair. “Then do it,” he whined, high-pitched and desperate.
Ollie humped against the mattress once more, but it wasn’t enough to quell the need to bury himself in the heat of Deke’s body. But he’d promised he was going to take his time. Do this slowly. Give him the first time he should have had if his alpha hadn’t intervened.
He let Deke’s legs fall over his shoulders, then spread him open, biting back a low sound as he took in his tight little hole. “So pretty everywhere.”
Before Deke could respond, Ollie licked a stripe from his balls to his rim, earning the dirtiest most debauched moan yet from his mate. Ollie grinned, then buried his face between his cheeks, sucking on his entrance, while Deke’s heels dug into his shoulders and he wailed, twisting his hands in Ollie’s hair until he worried it might come out at the roots.
He didn’t stop, though. He couldn’t. Deke tasted so good, like sweat and skin. He smelled like something sensual and spicy, some kind of smoky amber scent that made Ollie think of old magic. He lost himself in his task, licking and sucking at him, scraping his teeth against his sensitive rim until Deke was sobbing, real wet sobs, sniffling like he was actually crying.
It only spurred Ollie on. He continued his ministrations, working him with his mouth until he was swollen and puffy, the scruff on Ollie’s cheeks causing the sensitive skin there to grow pink. Whenever Deke needed to catch his breath, Ollie would occupy himself by sinking his teeth into the sensitive skin of his inner cheeks until Deke cried out, then licking over the impressions in an apology he didn’t mean.
“Ollie, please… I can’t…”
Something swelled within Ollie at the desperation in his voice. It wasn’t the first time he’d brought someone to that point. It wasn’t even the first time he’d brought someone in the house to that point. But it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t nearly the same. Deke, whiny and needy. Deke begging… Yeah, no, nothing compared to that. Nothing at all.
“I love the way you say my name when you’re desperate,” Ollie said casually before probing his entrance with the tip of his tongue. “Hand me the lube.”
Hard plastic smacked him in the head.
“Ow,” he muttered against Deke’s skin, blindly searching beside him until he found where the bottle had landed. When he snapped the cap open, Deke jumped like he’d been electrocuted. He hadn’t even touched him yet. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked one final time.
“I’m two seconds away from tying you to the bed and using you like a sex toy,” Deke snapped.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Ollie said, smacking Deke’s thigh hard enough to make him yelp then growl low in his throat before he could come back with another sassy retort.
Ollie spilled the lube onto his fingers, not bothering to warm it before pressing it against the boy’s entrance, earning a hiss and another kick that landed against his shoulder where Deke’s legs still resided.
Ollie laughed softly. “Sorry,” he said.
“Liar,” Deke mumbled, disgruntled.
Ollie kissed the perfect palm print on his inner thigh in a real apology, rubbing two fingers against Deke’s rim, trying to get him used to the sensation. He could feel the tension in Deke’s body, could feel the nerves through their mark. He kissed his way up his shaft, then ran his lips along it as he continued to stroke his fingertips around him lazily.
After a few minutes, the tension started to melt, Deke’s thighs going lax on his shoulders, his tiny, panting breaths growing louder as Ollie continued to mouth over him.
“Do something,” Deke said, trying to sound harsh, but his voice broke in the middle of his command.
“Okay, baby. I got you.” Deke huffed another irritated sound, but Ollie ignored it. “Try to relax,” he said, finally pressing a finger inside. Deke snarled, his whole body locking up tight. “Do you want me to stop?”
“Did I say stop?” Deke asked, his voice an octave higher, both heels pressing painfully into Ollie’s shoulder as he clenched around Ollie’s finger tight enough to cut off circulation.
“Okay, grumpy. Damn,” Ollie teased as he pressed soft kisses against the scent gland on Deke’s inner thigh. “You’re okay. It’s okay. Just breathe. Relax and breathe.”
“I am breathing,” Deke said tightly. “It just…burns.”
“Because you’re tensing. Try to relax your body.”
Deke snorted like that was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. Ollie fought another laugh. He was learning so much about his mate in this moment. He wasn’t always as carefree and easygoing as Ollie thought. In fact, he was a bit of a control freak.
Ollie shifted, bracing himself on his elbow beside Deke’s hip, locking eyes with the boy before he spit onto his cock then wrapped his fist around it, stroking it tightly with the still tacky saliva as lube.
Ollie felt Deke relax in stages, eventually loosening enough for him to slowly thrust his finger in and out of the dizzyingly pleasant heat of his body. As he moved, he pressed against Deke’s inner walls, searching for that spot he knew would make him see stars.
“Oh, my…holy fuck,” Deke shouted, hips leaving the bed, forcing Ollie’s finger deeper. “Do it again,” he said, his slightly whiny voice making Ollie’s cock leak onto the mattress.
Ollie hid his smile but did as he asked, letting his finger linger this time, massaging the spot as Deke lost his mind, his broken noises filling the room. Ollie closed his lips around Deke’s cock, swallowing him down as best he could, using his hand to get what he couldn’t.
Deke made a strangled sound, bucking upwards, causing Ollie to gag. It was only then Ollie realized the back of his throat was already sore. He bit back a moan, remembering all those times Deke had fucked his throat. The boy was writhing now, panting and whimpering, hips restless as he tried to decide whether he wanted to thrust up into Ollie’s mouth or ride the finger currently abusing his prostate. Ollie let him have both, bobbing his head, pulling free of the tight clench of Deke’s body before pushing back in with two fingers.
Deke’s surprised yelp soon became another needy whine as Ollie played with him, taking him deep at the same time as he scissored his fingers apart, working him open until he was leaking onto his tongue, breathless, riding his fingers and begging for more.
Ollie gave it to him, sliding another inside, once more rubbing at his walls to get him past the stretch.
“Please. Please…” Deke begged.
“Good?” Ollie asked, pulling off to watch as the younger boy swiveled his hips, trying to get Ollie’s fingers where he wanted them.
Deke glowered at him. “I’m good. I’m ready. Just…get inside me already. God.”
Ollie snorted. “So bossy and impatient even when you’re bottoming,” he mused, pulling his fingers free and wiping them on the sheets before raising up onto his knees to coat his cock in more lube.
He settled between Deke’s open thighs, blanketing himself over him until they were touching almost everywhere. Ollie’s heart almost stopped as he took in the pink tinge of Deke’s cheeks and the way he looked at him like he…loved him. Fuck. He needed to be inside him like yesterday.
He raised up just long enough to snake his hand between their bodies and line himself up, pressing until the head of his cock was snug against his rim. He couldn’t tear his gaze from Deke’s face as he finally sank inside. He looked so pretty as he gasped, lips parting, eyes scrunched closed, a tiny sound, almost like a wounded animal, leaving his lips.
Ollie almost came on the spot just from how beautiful Deke looked beneath him. The vice-like grip on his dick was the only thing that kept him from falling over the edge. He was so fucking tight it hurt.
“Relax, baby,” Ollie breathed, pressing his forehead to Deke’s. “I can’t even get all the way inside.”
Deke made another sad sound. “Sorry,” he whispered. “You just feel a lot bigger now that you’re actually inside me,” Deke said, his tense words bordering on hysterical.
Ollie shifted, stomach twisting. This isn’t how he wanted it to go. “We can?—”
“I swear to God, if you say we can stop again, I’m going to commit a felony,” Deke growled, snapping his teeth at Ollie in warning.
Ollie huffed out a laugh. “So cranky. And here I thought it was just your alpha who was aggressive.” He dropped kisses onto Deke’s forehead, his nose, his lips, his cheeks, just like he’d done when they started. “Where did my sweet, clingy boy go?”
“He disappeared when you stuck your dick in his ass,” Deke mumbled, still clinging to Ollie’s shoulders.
“It’ll get better,” Ollie promised, slanting his lips over Deke’s unyielding ones.
It only lasted a few seconds before he melted into the kiss, lips parting for Ollie to lick his way inside. He did his best to keep still, just focused on kissing Deke, the hitch of his breaths, the way Deke’s fingers spasmed against his back each time Ollie sucked on his tongue.
Ollie wasn’t sure how much time passed before Deke started to squirm beneath him, rocking against him, forcing Ollie deeper.
“Okay?” he finally asked.
Deke nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m…I’m ready. Go ahead,” he said, like he was bracing himself for a hard punch. Ollie rolled his hips, burying himself deep in one go, groaning against Deke’s slightly chapped lips. “Holy fuck.”
“Mm,” Deke said shakily, his legs coming up to grip Ollie’s waist.
Ollie took his time. At first, he just rocked against him, but as Deke started to rise up to meet him, Ollie’s thrusts grew harder, deeper, tendrils of heat curling in his belly with each stroke. Deke was clawing at him, whimpering his name over and over, knees digging into Ollie’s hips and his nails digging into his shoulders as he begged for more.
“Fuck, you feel so good,” Ollie muttered against his ear.
It was cliche, like something out of bad porn, but it was true. The tight heat of Deke’s body was driving him quickly towards his release, lightning flashing in his blood every time he clenched around him. He tried to move, to fit a hand between their bodies to jerk Deke off, but the younger boy shook his head quickly, another whiny sound escaping before he sank his teeth into Ollie’s shoulder in warning.
“Like this,” Deke begged. “I can come like this…just…fuck, just keep going. You feel so good. So big. So hot. I want to feel it when you come inside me,” he babbled.
Ollie slid his arms beneath Deke, his hands curling over his shoulders, holding him in place while he fucked into him, driving the sexiest little uh-uh-uhs from him every time their bodies met.
They were impossibly close. Ollie buried his face in the other boy’s neck, licking and biting over his mating mark, his lower body pounding into Deke harder and faster, chasing his own pleasure and trusting Deke knew his body well enough to be telling the truth about coming like this. They were both sweating, panting, the sound of skin on skin and the squelching of lube only driving Ollie closer to the edge.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my… Holy fuck, I’m…” Deke never finished his sentence, but Ollie felt the wet heat of his release spill between them and felt the way Deke’s body spasmed deliciously around his cock.
Ollie slowed, started to pull out before Deke grew too sensitive, but the boy locked his legs around his hips, shaking his head. “Keep going. I’m good. I’m fine. It’s not hurting me.”
Ollie probably should have put up a bigger fight, but he was too far gone. Deke felt way too good. He gave a slight nod, speeding up his thrusts, heat welling within him, his whole body buzzing as he rutted into him, quickly losing any rhythm or finesse as he felt the tingling in his spine, the tension coiling low in his belly. He needed to come. Needed to spill inside Deke. He wanted to fill him up until it leaked from his used hole. He wanted Deke to feel as claimed as Ollie had during his rut.
Deke whimpered then, almost like he could read his mind, and said,“I want it. Please, Ollie. Please.”
Ollie’s climax punched from him at his words, fireworks exploding behind his eyelids as he came with one final thrust, his teeth sinking into Deke’s mating mark hard enough to make the other scream, his body convulsing a second time as Ollie’s release painted his insides. Had Deke just come a second time? Fuck, that was so hot. Ollie continued to grind against him until he grew so fatigued he had no choice but to stop.
He collapsed on top of Deke, breathing hard. The younger boy didn’t complain, just started to draw abstract patterns on Ollie’s skin, his words a low purr in Ollie’s ear. “That was…”
“Yeah,” Ollie agreed, with a breathless laugh.
When it couldn’t be helped anymore, he slipped free of Deke’s body, earning a beleaguered little sound. He peppered kisses on his face, then arranged them so the younger boy was little spoon, burying his face against his throat, once more huffing in lungfuls of his scent, practically moaning at the instantly calming effect it had on him. “Are you okay?”
He felt Deke nod. “More than okay.”
Something unknotted deep inside Ollie’s chest. “Good.”
They lay like that in the silence for a while before Deke said, “Ollie?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you tell me again that you’re really okay with all of this?” Deke asked, sounding so unsure and child-like it almost broke him.
“I’m more than okay with this,” he promised. “I would tell you if I wasn’t. Hell, you’d feel if I wasn’t.”
Deke yawned wide enough for his jaw to crack, the tension leaving his body at once. “Okay.”
With that, he turned in Ollie’s arms like he’d done almost every night before his rut, curling his fist against Ollie’s chest and tucking his head beneath his chin, tangling their limbs together as he drifted off to sleep. Ollie let his hand curl over Deke’s hip, stroking softly, then pressed his lips to the top of Deke’s head, keeping them there long after the boy started snoring softly.
It was only in the silence that Ollie started to really think about what had occurred over the last few days.
He was a details guy. He lived in the minutiae. Logic was his god. Reason was his peace. He rarely focused on big picture problems. He knew the devil was in the specifics. Small solutions solved big problems. Maybe that was why he never panicked over the big things. War, tragedy, natural disasters…mating himself to a baby alpha for life. He could handle it all without breaking a sweat.
He was impeccable at navigating his way through huge obstacles by breaking things down piece by piece to come up with the solution. Hell, he was so good at it, he’d made a career out of it. He was so good that his friends had tracked him down and begged for his help.
It was the small things that sent him into a downward spiral. Questions. Anomalies. Those tiny little inconsistencies often scratched at the back of his brain, digging in like a burr and making him want to tear at his own skin until it bled…until his world made sense again.
He hadn’t lied to Deke. He truly wasn’t mad about their mating bond. He wasn’t even disappointed or upset. But if he had been, he would have simply made a plan to make the best of it. He didn’t believe in dwelling over things he couldn’t change. They couldn’t unring this particular wedding bell.
Truthfully, part of him was…relieved. Maybe his beta had recognized Ollie’s true feelings for the sweet boy or maybe he’d liked the douchebag alpha who also resided within. Maybe both. Hopefully both. They were a package deal, after all. Besides, it was hardly Deke’s fault. His alpha had only given Ollie what he’d asked for—No, what he’d begged for.
And that was the problem.
That was the microscopic detail that had Ollie reeling, had him spiraling into a sea of confusion and doubt. There was no doubt that Ollie had lost himself over the last few days. Not due to some rut amnesia either. Unlike Deke, Ollie had remained fully aware of what was happening the entire time. The begging, the pleading, the desperate need to please Deke’s alpha in any and every way he’d demanded, no matter how much he had to debase himself to do so.
Ollie had gotten on his hands and knees for him. He’d begged for him to breed him, to brutalize him. He’d preened when Deke called him a pretty omega and came hard on his knot whenever Deke had talked about breeding him. He remembered every single humiliating moment of it. But he’d been unable to stop himself. Deke’s face heated. No, that was a lie, too. He hadn’t wanted to stop himself.
Which didn’t make sense. He wasn’t an omega. He didn’t go into heats, couldn’t carry children. But in this room—with Deke—he’d behaved like one, and not just an omega but one in the throes of a heat. Sure, he was beta-o. He had the vestigial organs of an omega, a teaspoon of those same hormones. But he was a beta. That wasn’t a guess. It wasn’t a miscalculation. It was a statement of fact. DNA didn’t lie.
So, why had Ollie surrendered so easily? How had he fallen so hard under Deke’s alpha’s spell? Was it Deke’s super rut confusing Ollie’s hormones? Maybe he put out more pheromones than the average alpha. Medically speaking, there had to be an explanation.
Right?
Ollie let those thoughts marinate as he continued to press kisses into Deke’s hair. When Ollie got too deep into the weeds of his own mind, Deke would whimper, sensing his distress. Ollie sighed, holding him tighter, letting his eyes slip shut. Maybe it didn’t matter. Deke would likely go on suppressants just like the others and then their ruts would only happen occasionally. It would all work itself out. They needed to get out of this room and focus on Josh, on bringing down Cerberus. That was what mattered. Ollie and Deke…they would be fine.
Everything would be fine.