Page 103 of His Boys to Protect

A hand landed gently on his back. “I'm right here, baby. You're safe. See? Charlie's here, too.”

Skylar turned his head. To his other side, Charlie was fast asleep, lying on his front. Between the two men, Skylar couldn't move far. He choked out a soft cry and shot forward, practically throwing himself on top of Charlie while trying to be careful so he wouldn't wake him. Skylar gave Charlie a desperate squeeze, then reached back, flailing, trying to grab Ward.

The man shifted closer, curling up behind him and putting an arm over him. “You're safe, Sky. It's over. Go back to sleep.”

But Skylar didn't want to sleep. He wanted to soak up this moment. Revel in it. Hide in it for the rest of his life. He wanted to belong to Ward and Charlie completely. In every way.

That was never going to happen, though. Skylar was too dirty. He was a whore and always would be.

Skylar pushed his ass back against Ward, rolling his hips.

“Sky?” Ward murmured. “What are you doing?”

“Please,” Skylar quietly begged.

Ward grabbed Skylar by the shoulder and gently pulled, rolling him halfway onto his back. “Talk to me, sweetheart. What's going on?”

“I never thanked you,” Skylar blurted out. “For everything you did.” He wedged a hand down between their bodies and groped around for Ward's cock. “I need to–”

Ward snatched him by the wrist and pushed his hand away. “Sky, stop. You need to rest.”

“But I owe you for–”

“Sky,” Ward said, his tone full of warning. “You owe me nothing.”

“But–”

“Nobuts. The only thing I want from you right now is for you to rest. I need you to be a good boy for Daddy and do that. Okay?”

Skylar trembled, feeling strangely flooded with relief. Even without that, though, Ward's tone left no room for argument. He had to obey. “Okay.”

“That's my good boy,” Ward murmured. He pressed a kiss to Skylar's temple, then gently pushed him back over onto his side.

Skylar immediately curled up around Charlie again, but he didn't start to relax until Ward surrounded him from behind, keeping him trapped and contained.

Safe.

Exhaustion dragged him down. The next thing Skylar knew, it was morning, and he was alone in bed.

He rolled over, rubbing his eyes.Jeebus. It was so weird that he even could roll over. Ward's bed was so big. It felt enormous compared to his own little sagging twin mattress on the floor.

Skylar slumped back and covered his face with both hands.Oh fuck. That mattress was gone. The apartment. All of it. There would be no going back.

Not that he wanted to go back. Just the thought made him shiver. But his whole life was up in the air now, filled with nothing but uncertainty. And too many things to do.

Soft footsteps approached, and Skylar looked up to see Ward framed in the open bedroom doorway.

“Hey,” Ward murmured, smiling at him. “I was just coming to wake you.”

Skylar sat bolt upright with a gasp. “Shit. Are we late? Did I sleep in too–”

“Easy,” Ward said, coming into the room and perching on the edge of the bed. “We're not late. The bank doesn't open for at least another hour.”

Skylar twisted around, searching the room, then stopped when he saw a clock on the nightstand. Sure enough, the time read just after half past seven. He sagged with relief.

“It's okay, Sky. We're gonna take care of everything, I promise. I called John last night and got the day off, so we've got plenty of time to get things done.”

Skylar ran his shaking hands back through his hair. “Okay,” he replied even as his mind whirled with all the things he had to do.

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