Page 16 of Alpha’s Sunflower Smiles (Sweet in Silford #8)

Chapter 16

Pete

W e sat together on the sofa, feeling sated after dinner and sipping our wine.

Wilfred looked across at me and smiled.

It was his satisfied, happy smile.

I liked all of his smiles but I had to admit that this one did something extra to me.

I liked to see that my man was so content with me, that I’d made him feel so safe.

I put my wine glass down on the table beside me and reached across to Wilfred.

He put his glass down, too, and shuffled across the sofa to me.

I put my arm around him and he felt amazing, tucked up against me.

“Thank you,” he said.

“What for?”

“For looking after me so well. Nobody’s ever cooked me dinner before. Not just for me.”

I stroked my thumb back and forth across his hip where he was soft and pressed a kiss to his temple.

“You deserve to be looked after.”

He gave a contented little sigh and my alpha instincts swelled inside me, expanding out with satisfaction.

My man felt pampered and it really did it for me.

He wriggled closer.

I pressed another kiss to his temple and he turned his head to look at me.

It put his lips right there in front of me.

That was an opportunity I wasn’t going to pass up.

Bending my head down just a couple of inches, I pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

It was slow and sensual as I explored his mouth in a leisurely way.

We had all night and I wanted to savour Wilfred.

He was such perfection that it would take me all night and beyond to get my fill of him.

We kissed for minutes, and he opened his mouth to invite me in.

I slid my tongue between his lips and tasted him and the richness of the wine together.

He let me own his mouth and for a while I was happy just kissing, just having him there with me, but soon it wasn’t enough and I wanted him closer.

I manoeuvred us so I was lying down on the sofa and Wilfred was on top of me.

The firm weight of him pressing against me was erotic, the hard press of his groin against my pelvis and his soft stomach against my abs.

I ran my hands over his body, cupping his plump ass and squeezing, then using my leverage to pull him tighter against me.

I ground him against me, rubbing us together.

Wilfred let out a breathy huff of air and I captured his lips again, kissing him while I pulled him close.

Wilfred began to move, setting a slow and sensual rhythm that made me want to moan with pleasure.

I could feel his erection pressing into me, the heat of his length as he became more and more turned on.

My own dick was hard, trapped inside my jeans.

I wished I’d had the foresight to get us both naked before we’d sat down but, then, I hadn’t planned on ravishing him on the sofa.

I was lost in the pleasure of kissing him, the feel of him pressing down against me, my skin burning with electricity where we touched and my heart pounding with love.

I didn’t hear the knock, if there was one.

I didn’t hear the key in the lock.

The first I knew of anyone else being there except me and Wilfred was the horrified gasp right by my head.

Instinct had me scrambling off the sofa.

I rolled the two of us off it and we ended up tangled on the floor.

I was up in an instant, growling, stepping forward to put myself between whoever-it-was in my house and my man.

“What’s going on?”

The voice was familiar and I blinked.

My papa was standing there, his whole face a mask of shock.

“Papa? What are you doing here?”

As I realised we weren’t in danger, my protective instinct veered from protecting Wilfred from the intruder to protecting him from the floor.

I turned to help him up off the floor where I’d basically shoved him off me in my haste to get upright.

I steadied him as he climbed up and brushed him down, and then ran my hands over his arms and torso, checking for injury.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

I cupped his cheek and made him meet my eyes.

I’d learned already that he was a sucker for that and I loved giving him what he needed.

He looked at me for a second before his whole body relaxed and he leaned into my touch.

“I’m fine. Really. Just surprised.”

I should have taken my hands off him and stepped back but I couldn’t.

My body moved almost independently, and I watched my hands slide round Wilfred’s waist and pull him close.

I felt his body heat down my side as he pressed against me and the softness under my palm.

I wasn’t sure if I was shaking or not.

It took a second for me to meet my papa’s eyes.

His own eyes were round with shock and he asked again, “What’s going on?”

“I think it’s obvious what’s going on, Papa. You walked into my house without warning and found me making out with my boyfriend.”

Papa’s eyes flicked to Wilfred.

“This is your boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

There might have been a bit too much growl in my throat as I said that, but my instinct was to make it clear that, yes, Wilfred was mine .

I needed Papa to know it, after so long not being able to tell him.

More importantly, I needed Wilfred to know it.

I knew he didn’t think much of himself and I’d discovered a dozen ways already to make him feel good.

It angered me that it was so easy to make him feel special.

Wilfred was special.

People should have been showing him that his whole life.

As I said it, Wilfred’s body relaxed into me and it was only then I realised that he’d been holding himself tightly.

I’d been right, then.

Wilfred needed to hear that he was my man.

Since Papa hadn’t replied, I made introductions.

And I made sure I emphasised how important Wilfred was to me.

“Wilfred, this is my papa, Justin Thompson. Papa, this is my boyfriend, Wilfred Smith.”

Wilfred stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Thompson.”

Papa looked at his hand for just a fraction too long before he finally accepted it.

When they dropped hands, I drew Wilfred back against me.

I wasn’t sure whether that was to comfort him or to give me the strength I needed to get through this.

Clearing my throat, I said, “Papa, why didn’t you knock?”

“I did knock. You didn’t answer.”

“Your key is for emergencies.”

He frowned.

“It was an emergency. I haven’t heard from you in two weeks. You could have been lying dead on the floor.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his dramatics.

He could have rung me or, if I wasn’t busy making out with Wilfred at the time, he could have come over and knocked like a normal person.

I wasn’t convinced he had knocked on the front door.

Or maybe Wilfred really was just that distracting.

Papa eyed Wilfred.

“How long have you been… partners?”

He hesitated slightly before saying ‘partner’ because I’d never in my life heard Papa ever say anything other than ‘omega’ when talking about who I’d be in a relationship with.

I wasn’t sure whether it was deliberate or whether he had genuinely stumbled and corrected himself.

“We’ve only been going out for a week.”

And it had been a blissful week, thank you very much.

I had fucking loved having Wilfred all to myself without anyone interfering, and from the way my intestines seemed to be squirming round inside me, that was probably at an end now.

“Hmm, so you weren’t seeing Wilfred when you walked out on Xavier?”

Wilfred turned his head to look up at me.

“Who?”

For a second, I actually couldn’t remember who Papa was talking about.

He’d set me up or half-set me up with so many of his friends’ omega sons that they all blurred into one.

But Papa had made it sound like I’d actually been dating this one and left him, which obviously hadn’t happened because I’d never dated an omega.

Then, thankfully, it came back to me and I was able to explain.

“The omega Papa set me up with a couple of weeks ago. I told you about him. He’s the one who took Papa’s gift.”

“Oh yes, I remember.” Wilfred looked at my papa.

“I hope he wasn’t very upset.”

“He was,” said Papa.

“Yes, I can understand that,” said Wilfred, and that made me pull him tighter against my side.

My man thought people should be upset that I didn’t want them.

That was cute.

Papa’s eyes raked over us, catching sight of the way I held Wilfred.

His lips pursed up, annoyed.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a partner?”

“I—”

My throat dried up, and my words along with it.

Because I was afraid he’d hate Wilfred on sight just because he wasn’t an omega?

That didn’t sound like the sort of thing I could say without upsetting them both.

Wilfred saved me.

“This is all very new for us, Mr. Thompson. We haven’t told anybody yet.”

“I see. Well, since I’ve seen that my son is alive, there’s no need for me to stay.” With that, Papa he turned and walked out.

I heard the front door slam and the silence echoed around us.

I couldn’t think what to say that would break the horrible tension in the room.

I wanted to reassure Wilfred that he was perfect and it didn’t matter what anyone else said, but my throat was still too dry.

My boyfriend saved me again.

“You realise what this means, don’t you?”

A dozen possibilities raced through my head.

Yes, I realised that it could mean my papa never talked to me again.

It could mean that somebody would say something to Wilfred to imply that I should be with an omega and he would leave me.

It could mean—

He gave me a smile I wasn’t familiar with.

This one had a bit of mischief to it.

I was captivated and simply stared at him, waiting for whatever he’d give me.

“It means,” he said, “that you’ve been busted kissing your boyfriend. Richard will never let you live this down.”

A shocked laugh burst out of me.

All the sudden tension that had gripped my body drained out of it.

“We don’t need to tell Richard. I don’t want to give him the ammunition.”

Wilfred kept smiling and, while he smiled, he kissed me.

I swear I could taste the smile on his lips and I licked into his mouth to get more.

If I’d been in a better place mentally, I’d probably have dragged him into the bedroom or back down onto the sofa and frotted against him until we both came.

However, right at that moment, all I needed from him was kisses and smiles and his warm body pressed against mine.

We kissed slowly, deeply, and by the time we broke apart, Wilfred had managed to coax the happiness out of me again so it filled my chest.

“I love you,” I said.

It just slipped out of my mouth.

I hadn’t been thinking.

Wilfred looked up at me, his eyes became watery and his smile stretched even further, if that were possible.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I love you, Wilfred.”

“I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it.” I kissed him, dropping little kisses onto his lips and cheeks.

His hands came up to wrap around my neck and pull me into another, deeper kiss.

I let him take charge for a while, simply falling into his kiss.

Then he whispered into the space between us, “I love you, too.”

Perhaps it was the shock of the evening – Papa barging in, telling him about Wilfred, confessing our love – but my mouth ran away with me again.

I had meant to wait much longer before telling Wilfred what I wanted but it just popped out.

“Wilfred, I want to move in with you.”

“You do?”

“I know it’s unconventional to ask to move into your partner’s place, but I can’t ask you to live here; I know you hate my house. I want to live with you, where I can see you whenever I look up, where I can wake up beside you every day, where you’re happiest and where I can protect you.”

I knew his answer, even before he gave it.

Wilfred beamed with such sunshine in his expression that he could have lit the room.

“I’d love you to move in with me. Or, if you prefer, we can find a place together. I know alp— some people get funny about moving into another person’s house.”

“You mean alphas like to be the ones to provide?” I teased.

“Yes, but I realise that’s a stereotype.”

“Perhaps, but I’m happy to live in your cottage. You love it there and I can’t think of anywhere else you’d love as much. It would make me happy if you let me change the door, though.”

Wilfred chuckled.

“Alder said alphas were funny about doors.”

I gave an offended huff.

“Your door is fifty years old and it’s not secure. Anyone with a good shoulder could barge it open.”

That was why I had insisted Wilfred stay here this week, even though I knew he disliked the modern house and the sleek décor.

At least it was secure.

The one night we’d spent together at his cottage, I’d slept badly, half-awake all night, listening for intruders.

It made me break out in a cold sweat to think of Wilfred being there without me.

To my intense relief, Wilfred gave me an indulgent look, as though he thought it was sweet that I was so silly, but he agreed.

“I’d love for you to move in with me, and you can make any changes to any doors that you like.”

I pressed a kiss to his lips.

“I only need to change the front door.” I paused.

“And the back door. And, if you don’t mind, the window in the kitchen as well, the one with the dodgy latch.”

He nodded.

“If you like.”

“I do like.”

And this time, when I kissed him, I didn’t come back up for air until I’d carried him into the bedroom.

I wanted to make my man come.