Free His to Claim by Alice Cain

he'd resolved to never ask, to never say out loud
what he truly wanted. He couldn't give that to his mate, so he had no right to
ask for it.
    "Good news?" Kyle asked.
    Alex arched an eyebrow. "Funny, I
always figured you for a 'get the bad news first' type of guy."
    Usually he was, but he'd missed his mate
more than he'd ever believed possible.
    "Fine, give me the bad news
first."
    "I dinged your car."
    "It's insured," he said
flippantly. Technically they were all company cars anyway, so it wasn't really
Kyle's car to begin with. "What's the good news?"
    "You don't want to know how I dinged
your car? "
    "Nope. Good news, please," Kyle said, finally giving in to his
instincts and pulling his mate into his arms.
    Alex grinned, rolled his eyes, and then
leaned in for a kiss. It was quite a few minutes later before they resumed
their conversation, and even then Alex was frustratingly coy.
     
    ~*~
     
    Despite having made the decision a week ago,
now that the time had come to say the words out loud, Alex found himself
rethinking the whole thing. They'd only known each other for three weeks, and
most of that time had been a strange mix of crazy attraction and just plain out
crazy. They were so much alike in so many ways that it seemed they were well on
their way to driving each other insane.
    But Alex also knew that people grew and
evolved and adapted to change and if he wanted a relationship worth having then
it was worth compromising a little to make it perfect.
    "I…um…bought you a gift."
    Kyle gave him a strangely boyish grin and
held out his hand. It was actually quite endearing. Alex already knew from the
other Alateeka siblings that they'd stopped celebrating things like birthdays
centuries ago. Add that to the fact they seemed to have endless pits of money,
gifts for each other were probably something none of them bothered with at all
anymore.
    Alex frowned and suddenly wished he'd bought
something nicer.
    He grabbed his duffle bag, ignored the
stench of clothes in desperate need of a washing machine, and pulled out the
plain paper bag. He handed it over with an apologetic smile.
    Kyle gave him a confused look, but then
turned his attention to the bottle inside.
    "You bought me lube?" he asked
curiously.
    "No, I bought me lube," Alex said, apparently making the matter as clear as
mud.
    Kyle laughed nervously and turned the bottle
over in his hands. "Babe, I…" He reached a hand out to touch Alex's
cheek. "Maybe one day I'll be…"
    It was quite adorable watching Kyle try to
find a way to not make a promise he couldn't keep. He would always be a top. It
simply wasn't in his nature to be anything else.
    But it was a little different for Alex. His
avoidance had come from not being able to trust anyone. Not that he'd ever
given it that much thought—his size
meant he usually attracted cute bottoms anyway—but it had never been deliberate
avoidance.
    " Ky ,"
Alex said, lifting his hand to cover the one that still rested against his
cheek. "The lube is for me. For you to use on me, I mean with me…um…in
me." He shook his head as nerves won out over the eloquent speech he'd
practiced in his mind for the past couple of days.
    "You want me to fuck you?" Kyle
asked with a happy grin.
    Trust Alex's grizzly bear to cut right to
the heart of the matter.
    "Yes, Ky , I want you to fuck me."
    Kyle looked like he might high-five him or maybe do a fist pump, but then the gravity of the
situation seemed to sink in. "Are you sure?"
    Alex nodded, never taking his eyes off his
lover's gaze.
    "You don't have to. We can go on as
we've been going. I don't expect you to do this for me. I mean…thank you,
for…um…considering it, but it's not…it's not necessary. I can…we don't…it'll
be…"
    Alex lifted his fingers to Kyle's mouth to
silence him. "I want to do this with you. Only with you,
Kyle. I've never trusted anyone the way I trust you."
    "I promise I won't hurt you,
babe," Kyle said in a voice that made it sound like a solemn