Page 29 of A Hal for my Heart

“You’re so beautiful, sweetness, that a butterfly mistook you for a flower,” Hal whispered, looking a little smug for coming up with that compliment.

I couldn’t help it; a snort escaped me, making the butterfly fly away once again, searching for a flower to land on. “I used to see myself as a butterfly,” I admitted, wanting to share this part of myself with my alpha.

“How come?”

“We were all taught as children to leave the butterflies alone and not to touch them. Their wings are fragile, as you know, and once my curse took hold, I saw myself as them, fluttering aimlessly around, a creature no one was allowed to touch.”

“Maybe it’s a sign that you’re not cursed after all, then,” Hal suggested. “Maybe the butterfly was showing you that even with its fragile wings, it trusted you enough to touch you.”

Maybe. Maybe Hal was right.

Chapter Fourteen

Hal

Briar moved above me, his pale skin almost translucent in the glow from the full moon. He was beautiful; his frail chest pushed forward, his pink nipples two pointed rosebuds, his head tipped back in ecstasy. Having him like this, outside of his heat, was everything. There was no rush. We moved like one being, the urgency now gone, replaced by an intimacy I’d longed for my entire life.

Briar’s fingers dug into my thighs as he rode me toward my climax. He’d only been able to take my cockhead, his body back to normal now that he wasn’t in heat. He’d insisted he could take more of me and that his body would adjust if I just gave him my entire length, but there was no hurry. I liked the idea of Briar being so tiny and tight that he couldn’t take all of me in one go. It made me feel protective of him, like it was up to me to take care of him as his alpha. Like I knew what was best for Briar.

“More,” he moaned, his small cock bobbing up and down as he moved. It was so pink and pretty, beads of precum shimmering on the head like precious pearls. Gods, I was the luckiest alpha in the world. I grabbed his hips and thrust inside him, careful not to breach him further. “Please,” he whined. “More. I can take more. Please, Hal.”

“You’re not ready,” I growled, fucking him in slow, shallow thrusts.

“I am!” he protested, dropping his head to scowl at me. “I thought it was mine. My cock.” Fuck, he was like a feral animal, emerging from hibernation, ready to raid the forest.

I chuckled. “It is yours, sweetness, but I don’t want to hurt you. You are so small, and I’m too big for you.” He pouted, grinding down on my cock as he tried to seat himself completely. I tightened my hold on him, then flipped him around.

“Who’s your alpha?” I gritted. He struggled underneath me, but I saw the answer in his eyes and felt it in the way he clenched around me.

“You are,” he gasped, his thighs falling to the sides as he surrendered to me entirely.

“So you’ll do as I say, knowing I’ll always take care of you?”

Briar’s green eyes swam with intoxication, his tight hole rippling around my length, massaging it. His small cock throbbed between us. He nodded frantically. I knew this was a big deal to Briar because he’d been told what to do his entire life. He’d never had a say in his own fate. Submitting to someone he barely knew wasn’t easy, but he was mine as much as I was his. I’d do anything he asked of me, but I’d never hurt him or take him for granted. Besides, no one had ever loved him the way I did. I was sure of it.

“Soon,” I cooed, licking his neck as I grasped his cock in my hand. “Soon I’ll fill you completely, and your body will mold itself around my cock.”

“Yes!” he whimpered, thrusting in and out of my fist.

“Soon you’ll own me completely, sweetness.” He already did, body and soul.

“Ahhhh!” he screamed as his climax tore through him. His cock pulsed between us, and the air filled with the scent of his sweet essence. “Hal!” He clung to me, desperate for the touch he’d been denied for so long.

“I’m here,” I croaked, peppering kisses along his chin. “I’ll always be here, Briar.”

Tears trailed down his crimson cheeks, his eyelashes fluttering with delight. In a flash, his small hand flew to my throat, squeezing it fiercely. “Promise me.”

“I promise,” I growled as I found my own release inside him. Briar hummed with contentment as I filled him with my seed, my orgasm outdrawn and powerful.

“Feels so good,” he slurred. “Makes me feel so safe. Your cum.”

“You are safe, sweet Briar. Always. Now sleep.” I couldn’t knot him outside his heats, but I longed to do so. I’d sleep with him all night, safely locked against me, safe from harm. “Soon,” I murmured against his beating heart. “Soon.”

I woke to something whispering along my chin, like grass in the wind, soft and tickling.

“Tired,” I mumbled, turning on my side.

“You’re awake?” A bright voice sounded behind me.