Page 55 of Designation Prey

“Daddy, no.”

Liam lets his teeth close on the rise of flesh below Daniel’s thumb. Daniel goes weak against him, his free hand sliding over the front of Liam’s jeans, trying to feel his erection.

“I’m suppressed, sweetheart.”

“Oh.” He doesn’t even try to hide how disappointed he is by the news. “How long?”

“Hours, honey. You are too.”

Daniel frowns. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want it. I guess it’s easier for me, I just have to take it.”

“You want to?” Liam asks, but he thinks he knows the answer.

“Of course I do. I still… well, I think I’ll always feel like I’m yours. But it’s been so long, maybe you don’t feel the same? Maybe that’s why you’re not?—”

“No,” he cuts in, voice firm. “I was ready to build a life around you, and suddenly you were gone from me. I was told you were dead, baby. Gone from me forever, and I—” He can hardly say the words. “I had justgottenyou. Losing you broke me. I don’t know who I am now. I’ve forgotten. So much so that I took my suppressants today, even though I was going to see you, because I thought I should—I thought I should give you a chance to say no. Find someone else if that was what you wanted.” It’s a horrible confession of his willingness to let him go when that is the last thing Daniel would have wanted.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’ve done so badly when you deserve everything.”

Daniel puts a hand on his arm. “You know that it’s like I saw you yesterday, right? I left you and went straight to the facility where they put me under and I was just asleep. Except that apparently three years have passed, and my father is dead. I don’t know who I’d be if I had to live for three years without you, to wake up every morning and try to live. I don’t think I would have made it.”

“It hasn’t been easy. I know you can see it.”

Daniel presses a kiss to the corner of Liam’s mouth. “I’ll feed you. I won’t let you out of bed, Daddy. We’ll be okay,” he says, and the sadness is there. “It was hard for you, Daddy.”

It feels like forgiveness, this recognition that Liam is only diminished because he loved Daniel too well. He did. He does.

“I’ll make it up to you. I swear.”

“I feel numb now. The suppressants have just made everything dull and unimportant. But I still want you. Not like I did before, an inferno of need where I just needed to be owned by you for as long and often as possible, but you’re still the most important thing in the room. You’re everything to me. My brother… I don’t… well. I do love my brother but you’re my life. You’re what I want. I need my nest, Daddy.”

And then Liam is kissing his mouth, licking into him, and Daniel surrenders with a little sigh, mouth opening, shyly kissing him back, his arms sliding around Liam’s neck.

19

Daniel calls his brother in the car. “Daniel, is everything okay?”

“I’m going home with Liam, Loge. I need that. They took me from my Daddy and put me into cryo and I have to go home for a while. We’ll come visit when things are more settled.”

“Daniel, I don’t think—” Logan starts.

“I want to make one decision for myself. I’ve earned that. I don’t care whether you like it or not,” Daniel says, determined.

There’s a long pause as Logan digests the venom in his words. He’s a little surprised at himself, too. At the animosity lurking under the surface. He doesn’t want to be angry at his brother when they were both controlled by his father, but he needs to belong to Liam. And it’s heartbreaking to see how much Liam has missed him.

The last few years have wrought physical changes—the early graying of his hair, the weight of grief that clings to him. And he’s thinner, still lean and strong and muscular, but now he has a runner’s build. When they met, Liam was wider and densely packed with muscle.

But he’s still unbearably handsome. And Daniel can feel the pull of Liam’s dominance even though both of them are suppressed.

Liam’s hand settles on Daniel’s leg, palm flat and fingers spread, and Daniel stares at it and wants.

Daniel’s desire is there but it isn’t overwhelming. His desire is dulled. His sense of smell and probably his reflexes are dulled, too, from the drugs. But he still knows the man beside him is meant to be his. He still wants to be touched and kissed and held andhad.

“You deserve to be happy, Daniel. Of course it’s your choice,” Logan says.

“I’ll call you in a few days. I have to… I have to go now,” he says, ending the call.

The memories are so close and Daniel wants to drown in them. He wants to feel like himself again. “We were just here. In your car and on the way to the cabin.”You couldn’t keep your hands off me. You were so hard and your desire was heavy. I could hardly breathe through all the lust. He doesn’t say it. That’s too difficult.

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