Page 28 of Their Alpha

“I feel great,” Gideon answered, snuggling with him.

Fletcher snapped a defensive look at me, even as he wrapped his arms tightly around his husband. I knew he’d felt the pinch of jealousy that had hit me at Gideon’s readiness to be with him.

I sent a feeling of apology to him in return. I knew he felt it, because the despair was back in his expression and his feeling in no time.

“That was something else, wasn’t it,” I said, making polite conversation, since I didn’t know how else to handle the tangle of the three of us.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Gideon said. “I was really scared at first, but I told myself to be like Prince Leo, the brave one, when the diamond dragon prince, Diamant, abducted him.”

I smiled at Gideon’s point of reference. I would have to find a version of the fairy tales he loved so much and catch up on my lore.

“I didn’t know what to do at first,” Gideon rushed on, “but Fletcher helped me. Once I was…on you, it felt so good and I wanted it so much. I couldn’t get enough. I wasn’t afraid at all anymore.”

I knew. I remembered.

I smiled at Gideon’s enthusiasm, but the pain that came to me from Fletcher wiped the smile off my face.

“And then that breeding orgasm,” Gideon saidbreathlessly. He shifted to look up at Fletcher. “You know how it feels, right? I could see that you had one with Artemis, too.”

Fletcher’s pain shifted to guilt. “Yeah, baby, I did.” He swept his hand around Gideon’s face and kissed him.

Gideon kissed him in return, showing just how much he still adored him. I suddenly felt like the intruder, even though my bond with Fletcher was throbbing. That only meant I could feel the intensity of Fletcher’s love for Gideon.

“I’m so proud of you for being brave,” Fletcher said when he broke the kiss. He was proud, but he was also struggling.

“There’s more,” Gideon said, shuffling slightly and glancing at me.

The way he looked at me made my heart sing with expectation. It also made Fletcher wilt visibly.

Gideon noticed. His mouth was half open to say whatever else he had to say, but he closed it slowly when he saw how sad his husband suddenly was.

Gideon glanced back to me again with an odd, calculating look. The gears in his head were certainly turning about something.

“Go on,” I encouraged him gently. “There’s more?”

Gideon’s silence drew out so long that Fletcher’s somber feelings turned curious. I could practically see Gideon’s heart beating with uncertainty.

“It’s not important,” Gideon said at last, lowering his eyes. He shifted a hand to his belly. “I just…I just enjoyed it is all. I didn’t think I would.” He turned to Fletcher. “So you don’t have to worry about a thing. You made the right decision by bringing Artemis here. You did something good.” He glanced at me again. “I like Artemis. He’s a good man. I’m not afraid of him at all.”

What an absolute fucking tangle. Gideon’s smile as he glanced between us was uncertain but hopeful. Fletcher’s guilt rolled off him like he believed he was cheating on the man he loved more than anything in the world. I felt utterly caught in the middle between them, no idea what to do.

“Why don’t I go take a turn in the shower while you two finish cuddling,” I said with a smile, getting up. “And then maybe we can grab something to eat.”

“That sounds great,” Gideon said, then twisted to throw himself fully against Fletcher.

Fletcher sent me a grateful look as I left the room, but his emotions were a mess.

The distance between us would help, I was certain. I could feel the strain of being apart from Fletcher as I headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower, but it wasn’t as bad as the stress I’d heard people felt when they tried to stretch a newly formed bond. I’d heard stories of some pairs who couldn’t stand to be in a different room from their mate for the first few days after the bond formed, but those were usually people who had a powerful love connection as well.

I didn’t love Fletcher. Well, I wasn’t in love with him. Maybe. I couldn’t help but have huge amounts of affection for both him and Gideon, but I was confident that my lack of romantic feelings for him would mean I could leave the farm and go about my business for a while as we figured things out.

I raced through my shower, then dressed. When I left the bathroom, Fletcher and Gideon were busy cleaning up the bedroom. The bed had been stripped and the soiled coverings were piled in the corner. Fletcher had dressed and was in the dressing room, beginning the process of wiping down the milking chair.

“My turn,” Gideon said happily, skipping past us both and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the shower came on, Fletcher straightened, turned to me, and said, “We need to talk.”

“Yes, we do,” I agreed. I moved closer to him so we could keep our voices down, even though the shower was running. “There’s no getting around it, we’ve bonded.”

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