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He felt a warm glow flow
through him as Ian’s hands stroked down his sides. Every time Ian’s hazel eyes
met his, Billy’s heart turned over in response. His pulse pounded. A delightful
shiver of wanting ran through him. He tossed his head back and groaned.
Ian’s touch always affected
him this way. It had from the first day he laid eyes on the man when they were
just kids in second grade. Ian Thomas was Billy’s knight in shining armor,
protecting him from all the evils on the playground.
“Ian,” Billy gasped. His
need for Ian overrode everything in his world, maybe even his need to breath.
Ian was everything Billy had ever wanted, ever desired. Being here in his arms
felt like heaven on earth
“I’ll take care of you,
Billy,” Ian whispered back, “I’ve always taken care of you, haven’t I?”
“Yes,” Billy hissed. He
curled into the curve of Ian’s body, pressing his hard cock against the man’s
abdomen. He buried his face in the corded muscles of Ian’s chest, overwhelmed by
the desire burning through him.
A large hand took his face
and held it gently. Soft lips nipped at his. “I’ll always take care of you,
Billy.”
Billy turned his head and
pressed a kiss into Ian’s hand before giving his response. “Ian,” He whimpered
again. “I need you, Ian.”
“I’m here for you, Billy.”
His touch, firm and
persuasive, invited Billy to lean into a kiss that curled his toes with its
intensity. Ian’s lips were warm and sweet against Billy’s, reminding him of
honey and sunshine.
“Ian, love.”
“Yes, Billy.”
“Billy…”
“BILLY! Wake the hell up!”
Billy jerked awake, the pain in
his side making him wince. He opened his eyes to see a dark form standing over
him. He recognized the boot aimed at him a moment before it rammed into his
ribcage. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and rolled to his side, drawing
his knees up to his chest to protect himself.
“Get up, you lazy shit,” the
figure shouted. “You have work to do.”
Tears blinded Billy’s eyes and
choked his voice as he realized his knight in shining armor wasn’t there to save
him this time, or any other time. He was alone but he had always been alone. He
was actually kind of used to it.
“Yes, master.”
* * * *
“You look like shit, man.”
Ian rolled his eyes then stuck
his tongue out at Ryan McDonnell, his best friend for the last four years. “And
you look like a jackass. Luckily for me, I can rest and look better. You’re
stuck looking like that.”
“What’s going on, Ian?”
Ian shrugged, sitting down in a
chair across from Ryan. “I didn’t sleep very well last night.”
“Again?” Ryan asked. “This is
what, like the third time this week you haven’t been able to sleep? Are you
still having that same crazy ass dream?”
Ian nodded gloomily. He sat
back in his chair, slamming his clenched fist down on his jean clad thigh. “It’s
the same dream over and over again.”
“Have you figured out who the
guy is yet?”
“No, but I feel like I know him
from somewhere,” Ian replied as he thought about the erotic dreams he had been
having of late. Only one man stared in them…Billy, whoever he was. “The dreams
are just too intense, too vivid not to have some connection. But just when I
think I’m going to see his face I suddenly wake up.”
“Well.” Ryan took a drink of
his coffee before setting the cup down on the counter. “You’d better figure
something out. You’re supposed to go to the convocation in two days. If you’re
not on your game, you’re going to have your head handed to you and I’m going to
be kissing the ass of a new alpha.” Ryan’s upper lip curled back in disgust.
“God, I hate breaking in new alphas. Such delicate pansies.”
“Hey!”
“You aren’t so bad.” Ryan
chuckled. “I think I’ll be able to break you in with a minimum of ass kissing.”
“Gee, thanks. You’re all
heart.”
“Naw.” Ryan wiggled his
eyebrows. “I’m all cock, all nine inches.”
Ian rolled his eyes. He so did
not need to know anything about his best friend’s dick. He knew Ryan had his
back but the man was his friend. Ryan was going to be his beta when he took over
as alpha for his father. He was not a romantic interest. He wasn’t even Ian’s
type.
But this Billy he had been
dreaming about…he was exactly the type of man Ian would be interested in. If Ian
only knew who he was.
* * * *
Ian could feel the sweat on the
palms of his hands as he stood in the ceremonial circle and waited for his
father to finish talking. According to tradition, once his father stated his
intention to step down, naming Ian as his successor, anyone could step forward
and challenge him for the right to be alpha of the Silverlight Pack.
He wasn’t thrilled with the
idea that he might need to fight anyone who thought they were big and bad but he
knew he was the best wolf for the position. He wouldn’t let anyone else have it.
He had been learning to be the next alpha since the time he could walk, most of
it at his father’s side, and Aldo Kline had been the best damn alpha their pack
had seen in over five hundred years.
Those were some pretty big
shoes for Ian to fill but he knew he was up for it. His father was still alive
and would become his advisor. His best friend stood at his side, soon to be his
beta. His pack was expecting him to step up and take over the pack, and they
seemed happy about it. All he needed to do was find a mate and he would be set.
“Any that believe they would be
a better alpha may step forward and challenge Ian for the right to lead the
Silverlight Pack.”
Ian tensed when he heard his
father say the words that he had both been dreading and anticipating. He eyes
those standing around the circle. He could think of no one that truly wanted to
be alpha. Everyone seemed to be pretty damn happy with letting Ian’s family lead
the pack, which they had been doing for the last two hundred years.
Ian started to relax his
muscles, blowing out a relieved breath when no one stepped forward until a
commotion at the back of the crowd caught his attention. Ian’s muscles tensed
right back up when the crowd parted and a rather formidable man stepped forward,
following closely by three other men.
Ian’s eyes were riveted on the
beautiful man being led into the torch lit circle by a leash attached to a
collar around his throat. He would know those crystal blue eyes anywhere. He had
been seeing them in his dreams for weeks.
Billy.
* * * *
Billy’s head snapped up when he
heard his name softly whispered on the breeze. His eyes locked on the tall,
foreboding man standing across the ceremonial circle from him, his arms crossed
and a deep scowl on his face.
Ian.
His Ian.
The gorgeous man that haunted
his dreams. He hadn't seen Ian since he was a small child and was forced to
leave the pack by his stepfather after his mother died. That had been so many
years ago, he had been afraid he wouldn't remember what Ian looked like.
He looked just like the
gorgeous man in his dreams.
Billy quickly lowered his eyes
when he felt a sharp tug on the leash held by his master. The elation he felt
upon seeing Ian in real life quickly dwindled as he was reminded that whatever
he had dreamed about would never be. He belonged to another master.
“I challenge Ian Kline for
leadership of the Silverlight Pack.”
Billy’s breath hitched,
catching on the sudden lump of fear lodged in his throat. His eyes snapped from
his master to Ian and then back again. He had heard the ramblings of course but
he never put two and two together. His Ian couldn’t be the man his master was
here to kill.
Billy wouldn’t allow it.
He couldn’t. His Ian was all
that was good and beautiful in the world. His master was evil to the core. He
lived to torture people, and in the most imaginable ways he could conceive of.
The man that accompanied them were just as evil, doing the master’s bidding with
glee.
The rest of the bits of
conversations he had heard while kneeling at his master’s feet flooded his brain
almost faster than he could decipher truth from rumor. Pure terror slammed into
Billy, almost taking him to his knees. Only years of practice locking them in
place to stay standing for hours on end kept him from falling to a heap on the
ground.
Those gathered were so unaware
of the danger they were in, the danger closing in on them with each passing
second. From the worried glance Ian shot toward the others encircling the
ceremonial circle, the man knew something was amiss. He just didn’t know what.
Danger tainted the air.
When Ian’s beautiful hazel eyes
came back to rest on him, Billy knew what he had to do. Even if it caused his
death, he couldn’t allow this stunning man to fall victim to the horrors his
master perpetrated on anyone that caught his attention.
Defying everything that had
ever been beaten into him, Billy grabbed the length of leather attached to his
collar and unclipped it. Before the two men guarding the master’s back could
stop him, Billy leapt forward and wrapped the leather leash around his master’s
throat, pulling it as tight as he could manage.
He felt the agony of blows to
his back and head even as he heard the soft gurgle as his master struggled to
free himself and then slowly slid to the ground, his last breath blowing out in
a surprised hiss. Billy gave one more hard tug, feeling something snap in his
master’s neck, before dropping the leash and falling to the ground. Pain stole
his breath, making it impossible for him to do anything but lay there, waiting
until he could breathe again. He would heal, but it would take time.
“Sweet hell, Billy.” Hazel eyes
filled with shock and worry and something more, stared down at him. “What did
you do?”
“Da-Danger,” Billy rasped.
“In...in the wo-woods…” He licked his dry lips. “Sol-Soldiers.”
Ian stared for a moment then
raised his head and looked around, He was shouting out orders in the next
second. There was a flurry of activity around them as people ran to confront the
men hiding in the forest to attack the pack. Billy only had eyes for the man
holding his hand.
“I found you,” Billy whispered.
“I protected you.”
Just like a mate should, but
the words weren’t needed between them. Billy knew that Ian understood what he
didn’t say.
Ian smiled down at him, giving
his hand a gentle squeeze. “You did, Billy, and I thank you for your timely
intervention. You saved a lot of lives tonight. But now it’s time to let me take
care of you.”
Billy smiled as tears filled
his eyes. “You always take care of me.”
Ian brushed the hair back from
Billy’s face. “And I always will, mate.”
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