“Good. Now, I’m going to kiss you goodnight,” Kiernan stated softly. “If you don’t want that here in the parking lot, you’d better tell me now.”
“Please,” he whimpered, wanting, needing to feel his mate’s lips, find out what he tasted like.
Kiernan didn’t disappoint. A firm hand settled on Demitri’s waist and tugged him forward gently. Kiernan used his hold on Demitri’s jaw to tilt his head. Lowering his face, Kiernan gently brushed his lips over Demitri’s once, twice, before sealing them firmly together.
The pressure increased and Kiernan nipped Demitri’s bottom lip sensuously. Demitri moaned, his hands finding their way into the open flap of Kiernan’s jacket and clutching at his shirt. Kiernan slipped his tongue into Demitri’s mouth, forcing it open wider, giving him more access. The heady taste of his mate enthralled Demitri’s senses and he pressed closer, wanting more.
Easing the contact, Kiernan gently ended the kiss. Demitri whimpered at the loss of his mate’s mouth. “Easy, darling,”
Kiernan crooned into his ear as he tucked Demitri’s head under his chin. With him standing five foot ten and his mate six foot two, Demitri thought he fit perfectly against him.
Demitri shivered, sucking in great lungfuls of breath. He tried to get his breathing under control, but it was difficult being this close to the man that he desperately wanted with every fiber of his being. Demitri didn’t know how long it took, but finally he felt like his heart wouldn’t beat out of his chest.
Kiernan must have noticed the change in his body, for he eased him away, putting some space between them.
“Tomorrow, Demitri.”
Demitri had no idea what his mate was promising with those words, but he nodded anyway. “Okay.”
Giving him one more, soft peck on his lips, Kiernan straightened and glanced around. “Which one’s your ride?”
“I walked,” Demitri corrected.
“Can I give you a ride home? I hate to think of you walking in the dark, even in a small town,” Kiernan admitted.
Demitri smiled, flattered his mate would worry about him, but he still shook his head. “My parents know I’m gay, but…” he glanced down at himself. With the light touch of eye shadow and the sweep of blush on his cheeks, it was a little hard to miss. He liked how he looked with just a hint of make-up.
When he’d finally admitted to his friends his desire, they’d enlisted the help of Lark, the alpha’s mate, who also enjoyed make-up, to help Demitri find out what he liked, disliked, and what looked good on him. Gods above, his parents had been livid, but that didn’t stop Demitri from wearing it.
“But seeing you with an older man might be a bit much for them?” Kiernan guessed.
Grimacing, Demitri nodded. “They’ll just need a couple days for them to accept it, okay?”
“I understand,” Kiernan replied, although from his scent, Demitri knew he really didn’t. He’d have to find a way to make it up to his mate.
After giving him another soft peck on the cheek, Kiernan let him go. “See you tomorrow.”
It took far more determination than he thought it would, but Demitri nodded and walked away from his mate. He headed out of the parking lot and down the street. He slipped into the trees between buildings and headed through the woods. His parent’s home was on a side street three rows over, but it was quicker to walk through the woods.
When he reached home, he stood in the shadows staring at the building. He really needed to get out, but he hadn’t saved quite enough yet. Soon. Very soon. Maybe another month.
Sucking in a fortifying breath, knowing this conversation wasn’t going to go well, Demitri headed through the door.
He never had a chance to explain. The second he stepped through the door, a bat slammed into his gut. Demitri doubled over, his breath leaving him in a whoosh. The bat landed across his shoulders next and his knees buckled.
Turning his head slightly, he saw his father’s red face and bared teeth as he glared down at him, the bat clutched tightly in his meaty fists. “After all we’ve done for you, you worthless piece of shit. This is how you repay us?” Cooper snarled.
“What?” he squeaked, confusion and fear permeating him as he watched his father lift the bat again.
“How do you think your mother felt when Linda and John showed up an hour ago, telling us how you were fawning all over some old man at Caribou’s?” A kick to Demitri’s ribs rendered him unable to respond as pain exploded through his abdomen. “You…are…not…gay.”
Each word was punctuated with another kick, two to his legs, one to the chest and finally one to his head.
Demitri fought back the whimper. Tears leaked from his eyes, but this time, he refused to be cowed. “I am gay,” he insisted breathily, although he couldn’t meet Cooper’s eyes.
His father might not be a wolf, but he was still far more dominant than Demitri would ever be.
Cooper grabbed his hair and hauled him up onto his knees, sending pain shooting across his scalp and down his spine. “Let me help you change your mind,” he sneered.
The bat connected with Demitri’s temple, sending darkness crashing over him.
Chapter Four
Kiernan felt on edge, jittery, and he didn’t like it one bit.
He’d blame it on the lack of sleep, but since he’d felt this way before going to bed, he knew that wasn’t the truth.
Kiernan kept kicking himself for not giving Demitri his phone number and insisting his young love interest call him once he’d gotten home safely.
That had to be it. He was just worried about Demitri. He had that tendency, to be controlling and dominant. Loving to dominate in the bedroom, sometimes it was hard for Kiernan to turn it off outside of it.
Slamming his truck door just a little too loudly, Kiernan grumbled an apology to his truck. His beat up pick-up and his daughter
