Alpha's Obedience, page 21
"I'm setting an example here because we both know what a bossy little shit you can be."
That only widened Sivney's smile. "You know, I'll take that as a compliment. But yeah, I'm fine with that."
Lev pushed Naran's wheelchair back to Jawon's House. When they came close to the house, the sounds of sex were unmistakable. Lev blushed to his roots, or that's what it felt like at least. Why was he still so weird about sex? You’d think that after a few weeks on the ranch, it wouldn’t faze him anymore.
"Someone's having a good time," Naran commented dryly.
"That sexual craze was as strong as you warned me," Sivney said. "Thank fuck it waned quickly."
"Apparently, not for everyone," Naran said, and that made them laugh.
Lev pushed the wheelchair through the back door, grateful that the house was a ranch with few obstacles for a wheelchair. Once inside, the sounds were even louder. The pack alpha was easy to recognize, but it seemed he'd at least taken his men to their bedroom, where a chorus of moans, groans, and rhythmic thuds rose up.
He'd figured they would be safe in the kitchen, considering Sven and Lars were there to take care of the babies, but when he walked in behind the wheelchair, he came to a sudden stop. Grayson sat on one of the kitchen chairs, stark naked, and draped across his lap was Lars, his pants pulled down to his ankles. Grayson held him down with one hand, while his right hand rose in the air.
He stopped when he spotted them, but then he smiled. "Oh look, boy, you have an audience. Now they can all see what happens to disobedient boys."
Lev swallowed. He wouldn't do that in front of them, would he? He held the handles of the wheelchair so tightly his knuckles turned white. He wanted to run away, but at the same time, there had never been anything he wanted to watch more than this.
Lars looked up at them, his eyes dark. "Yes, Daddy," he said, his meek voice in stark contrast with the look on his face.
"We'll leave," Sivney said, but Grayson shook his head.
"Please stay. Lars doesn't mind, do you, boy?"
"No, Daddy." Lars dropped his head again.
"He can't say no." The words had left Lev's mouth before he could think through the implications of his statement. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business."
Lars turned his head again, this time to face Grayson. "Can I explain it to him, Daddy?"
Grayson nodded. "That would be excellent. Thank you for offering, boy, but this doesn't mean you'll get to escape your punishment."
Lars rolled his eyes. "It didn't even cross my mind."
That resulted in a sharp slap on his ass, which made him yelp. "Don't you get smart with me." Grayson lifted him to his feet, and, after a quick look at the three of them, pulled up Lars's pants. He didn't make any move to cover up his own nudity, though.
Lars looked at Lev, and while his expression was his usually surly one, his voice was kind when he spoke. "I can say no. I can stop this at any time. All I have to do is say red, and Daddy will stop immediately. Or I can say yellow if I feel he's getting close to my limits."
Lev felt like his cheeks had to be crimson red, but if this was his chance at understanding something that he somehow grasped was important to him, he had to push through his discomfort. "But he was about to…spank you. Doesn't that make you want to stop?"
The corners of Lars's mouth pulled up in a smile. "Dude, not even close." He looked at Grayson as if to ask permission for something, and Grayson nodded at him. "I enjoy being spanked. Daddy spanks me every morning, just to remind me I'm his and that he’s in charge."
Crazy as it sounded, that made sense to Lev. He'd always loved it when Naran had gotten rough with him, had left some bruises. It had been the visual reminder of what they shared, like Naran had been marking him. The gentle pain throughout the day had kept him aware of who he was with and that he couldn't wait to see him again.
"Does it hurt?" Lev asked, then felt stupid for what had to be a dumb question.
But Lars didn't seem to consider it strange. "It depends on how Daddy does it. The daily morning spankings are gentle, and that's also true for when he gives me a pleasure spanking. But a punishment like this? Yeah, that hurts. That's the whole point."
"Maybe you should share what you did to deserve this punishment?" Grayson said, and even though it sounded like a suggestion, it was anything but, and Lev felt himself responding to the steely tone. It reminded him of how Naran had talked to him. When he used that voice, Lev had no choice but to obey.
"I fell asleep," Lars said, and his silliness disappeared, making place for genuine remorse. "Daddy told me to stay awake because Sven would fall asleep, since he’s so tired, and someone would have to monitor the babies. But when Daddy returned, I was sleeping."
Next to Lev, Sivney audibly reacted.
"They're all asleep," Lars said quickly, looking at Sivney. "I promise I wouldn't have fallen asleep if one of them had been awake. Abigail didn't even wake up once."
"I promise you that if I had found you sleeping while my daughter was awake, you would've been in more trouble than you could ever be with your Daddy," Sivney said, and his tone was so calm, bossy, and hot as fuck, that Lev's cock hardened.
Lars inched back a little. "Fair enough."
Lev had one more burning question, and if he didn't ask it now, it would never happen. "Can I ask you one more thing?" He didn't wait for an answer but said, "How are you okay with everyone knowing what you do? I mean, people on the ranch talk about your relationship, about you getting spanked, even when others are present. Doesn't that bother you?"
"It did at first, but that was the whole point. It took me a while to understand that this is what I need. If Grayson hadn't become my Daddy, they'd have kicked me out of the pack a long time ago. I'm not the easiest person to get along with," he said.
Grayson reached for Lars's hand, then pulled him backward until the beta sat on his lap. Then he nuzzled his neck. "You know I love you the way you are."
Lars let his head rest against his alpha’s shoulder, and his look changed into one that Lev had never seen of him before. There was peace on his face, contentment. "I love you, Daddy."
"It's different for everyone," Grayson said, and his voice was gentle. "Lars craves the discipline. It's what he needs to feel loved and seen. Sven is very different. He wants nothing more than to please me, and I never have to discipline him."
"But…" Could he say this to an alpha? He debated it for a second or two, then decided that if Grayson hadn't wanted to talk about it, he wouldn't have brought up the topic. "But you let Sven…please you. In public."
Grayson smiled. "You mean I let him suck me off when others are watching? Oh yeah, I do. But that's because I’ve discovered I’m an exhibitionist, and Sven loves being humiliated like that, so it's a win-win for us both."
Something clicked inside Lev, like he had another piece of the puzzle. "So you're saying that because you both like it, there's nothing wrong with it."
"Exactly. Open communication is key, which is why the three of us talk about this a lot. Especially now that Sven is pregnant and so close to giving birth, I need him to tell me what he feels, what he needs because it's much harder for me to read him. His emotions are all over the place, which makes total sense, so I'm relying on him to tell me where his head is at. This one," he said, giving Lars's wild hair an affectionate rub, "is much easier for me to read because by now, I know him well. But I still check in with him regularly because his preferences may change. Lars was very needy when we started out, and that may change over time."
It wasn't until then that Lev realized that he'd been the only one asking the questions. Naran and Sivney had only been listening, and they had to be bored out of their minds by now. "I'm sorry for dominating the conversation," he said, cringing. "We can go now."
"Are you kidding me?" Naran said, and Lev heard the smile in his voice. "I want to see that spanking. I've heard so many rumors, so now I want to see with my own eyes."
That was for him. Naran was saying this so Lev wouldn't feel bad staying. His heart was full of softness, gratitude, and so he bent in and hugged Naran from behind. Naran jerked in surprise but then put his cheek against Lev’s. He held on for a bit, then let go.
“Please proceed,” he said to Grayson. They all laughed because it came out so ridiculously formal.
“Yes, Daddy, please proceed,” Lars said with a sweet giggle. He was a different person like that.
Grayson let out a playful growl. “Oh, I intend to. I’ll spank that gorgeous ass of yours until it’s all red and warm, and after that, I intend to fuck you until I have this crazy need out of my system, so it may take a while. And Sven is asleep, so you’ll have to take all my loads, boy.”
“I’m down with the spanking, but I do not need to see that,” Sivney said, and then they all laughed again.
And so they did. They watched as Grayson punished Lars until his ass was fiery red, and then the man gave them fair warning to get the hell out of there. They had barely left the kitchen when the first moans sounded, mingling with the ones that were still coming from the pack alpha’s bedroom.
31
There was complicated, and then there was this, which was the absolute messiest, most complicated thing he could've ever imagined. Naran's brain fired on all cylinders as they made their way back to their house. Lev and Sivney were quiet, most likely for the same reason Naran was. He had so much to ponder.
Where did he even start? With Lev's revelation about himself, which had been shocking and yet not at all surprising at the same time? It made Naran wonder how he had missed that. Oh, he'd known Lev wasn't a typical alpha. That wasn't hard to spot once you knew him better. But even after meeting Enar, the thought Lev might identify as something else than an alpha had not occurred to him. As perceptive as he prided himself on being, he had missed something there.
Lev's fascination with being dominated was not new, but Naran was glad he seemed to be coming to terms with it. He reminded himself to thank Grayson for allowing Lars to explain some things. No words from himself or even Grayson could've had as much impact as Lars's words, because no one would ever accuse that boy of pretending.
It had been easy to sense Lev's mind at work, trying to apply to himself what Lars had said. They had barely touched the surface in their dynamic, their time cut short when Naran was discovered and imprisoned, but Naran knew Lev not only could take much more but probably needed it. As Grayson had stressed, they would need a lot of communication to make that work, considering Lev's trust issues with Naran.
And then there was Sivney. The omega had stated he had no idea what he was feeling, and Naran believed him. There was so much Sivney hadn't told them. Things about his past, his parents, his ex-boyfriend, his heat which, Naran gathered, had not been a pleasant experience. Sivney would need time to work it all out because he was not the type to make impulsive decisions.
Naran had discovered how important control was to Sivney, and he respected that. Naran reckoned it was linked to his past, but even so, he understood the omega's resistance to submit to anyone. It might not be typical for an omega, but Sivney was definitely not submissive. Hell, he'd even managed to get Naran to do stuff he was determined not to do, so go figure.
And there was Naran himself. He was realistic enough to acknowledge that while he’d made progress in his acceptance of his current situation and the first efforts to improve himself, it would be a long road for him. What that meant for them as a threesome was a big question. How could he provide for them if he was wheelchair-bound? What kind of job could he have on the ranch with a limitation like that?
As he said, complicated. Theirs would not be an easy path, and he foresaw they’d need a lot of time to work out how they fit together. But somehow, they would. They did. It was a certainty, deep in his soul, that he couldn't explain. But he felt it, the connection with them both. He couldn't even put it into words, because while he was certain he loved Lev—a realization he'd had while being tortured—that wasn't the right word for what he felt for Sivney. Not yet. It could be, and he was confident that it would grow into love, but again, it would take time.
Sivney opened the door, and Lev pushed Naran inside. He sighed with relief at the warmth greeting him. Damn, the cold had gotten into his bones. It was amazing what a difference it made when you were sitting still. Even with the thick fleece blankets, he was chilled.
"Do you want to take a shower to warm up?" Sivney asked him while he took off the sling, handling Abigail with an ease that showed he’d gotten experienced at it.
"That sounds good. Would you be willing to help me, babyface?" Something passed over Lev's face, and Naran cocked his head. "What's wrong? Talk to me."
"I wanted to ask something, but you're cold, so I will try to keep it short. I was wondering if… You said that we're together now, right? The three of us. That you assume we're fated mates. And you said that you didn't know what to feel, Sivney, and I said… Well, I can't remember what I said. And we didn't have it before, but things have changed, so now I thought that… But maybe this should wait till after—"
"Boy," Naran said. "Take a deep breath, then say it. I promise you we're not gonna get angry with you.
As always, he got a deep satisfaction from Lev's instant obedience. The boy closed his eyes, straightened his shoulders, and his chest rose with the firm intake of breath, which he then blew out slowly.
"I need a safe word."
Lev opened his eyes, and Naran sent him a look of approval. "Okay. You want to do the red, yellow, and green thing?"
Lev blinked a few times. "You don't want me to explain why?"
Naran smiled at him. "You forget how well I know you, boy. You struggle with trusting me completely, and I understand. You did before, and I violated that trust. So now you need a backup, a way to know that you can try again without risking too much."
That bottom lip quivered, and the urge to pull him onto his lap and cuddle him was almost too strong. "You're not upset with me?" Lev asked, and his voice was small.
"No. Absolutely not. In fact, I think it's smart and healthy. For all of us, not just for you. On the way over here I was thinking that we have a long road ahead of us to work this out, so having this in place will help us all have a way to stop things we’re not comfortable with."
Sivney had changed Abigail’s diaper in the meantime, and the precious girl was now smacking her lips in a way that Naran had come to recognize. They had about two minutes tops before she would start crying, demanding to be fed.
"It would help me," Sivney said. "This is all new to me, and I, for one, would love to have this safety measure in place."
"Okay, that's settled, then," Naran said. There, that was one hurdle taken already. But he knew there was something else on Lev's mind, something that might be harder to navigate. And they had precious little time to address it.
"I want to propose something else, and we'll have to talk about this later in more detail. Since we’re all trying to figure out how this could work, I propose there should be no sexual encounters unless all three of us are present."
He'd known Lev would respond, and his reaction came immediately. "But I was hoping…" He stopped talking again, that adorable blush creeping up his cheeks.
"Were you hoping to be on your knees for me in the shower, babyface?"
It said a lot about Lev's state of mind that he didn't even try to deny it but nodded, looking from Naran to Sivney like a little puppy who was hoping someone wanted to play with him.
Sivney made eye contact with Naran, then nodded. A flash of relief went through the alpha when he realized that Sivney understood. Lev needed this. "I have to feed Abigail first, but she's still tired, so I'm sure she'll fall asleep again right after. If you can wait for me, I'd love to watch."
Naran noticed the subtle way he had stressed that last word. Watch. Sure, Abigail was only thirteen days old, so it made total sense that Sivney wasn't ready yet for anything sexual. Naran understood that, but his gut told him something more was at play, something they would have to face sooner or later.
It would have to be later because Abigail gave her first cry, and Sivney smiled at the both of them. "Priorities, guys. I'll join you as soon as I'm done."
Naran didn't even have to ask Lev for help. His boy pushed the wheelchair into his room, then put the brakes on. When he kneeled to take the fleece blankets off, followed by Naran's shoes—and why the hell was he even wearing shoes when he couldn't walk?—Naran put his hand on the boy's head.
"There's no pressure," he said. "I don't want you to do anything you're not ready for. You have those safe words. Use them. I will never, ever get upset with you for that. You understand?"
Lev looked up at him, his blue eyes filled with a trust Naran hadn't seen in a long time. "Yes, Boss."
How he had missed hearing that word. It was silly, perhaps, and others might have insisted on being called Sir or Master or Daddy, but to Naran, Boss was the biggest compliment Lev could give him. It showed everything about how they had been together, about the trust that had existed between them, about how Lev had surrendered to Naran's care.
He rubbed his boy’s head, letting his hand travel to scratch Lev's neck, then grabbed it with a strong grip. "What do you need, boy? Talk to me."
Lev’s surrender was instant. “I want to be used. Like you did before. Make me stop thinking.”
Naran’s heart did a little stumble in its rhythm. How he loved it when Lev needed. “We’ve got you, boy.”
Lev’s face lit up with relief. “Thank you.”
He put his head on Naran’s knee but so softly that it didn’t hurt him. Oh, but inside Naran, it ached. It ached for the time they had wasted. For the mistakes he’d made. For the pain he’d caused his boy. For the emotional trauma Sivney was struggling with that had made trust so hard for him. For his own pain, emotionally and physically.
But now that pain was mixed with hope, and that was new.
