Page 42 of Carver

Gideon stood in the shower in his pajama pants. The fabric was soaked and clung to him. Carver made sure not to stare at the young man’s body longer than necessary.

“What are you doing here? You should be sleeping. I need to get clean.”

The boy frowned as his gaze went to the water. The water running red from the blood.

It hit Carver then what was wrong.

“I’m not hurt, sweet boy. This isn’t my blood.”

Gideon tilted his head in that way that always made Carver smile. His boy was inquisitive.

“It’s from the bad man. The one I took the call about earlier. He needed to be taken care of.”

The boy reached out and tapped Carver’s bicep twice. Somehow, Carver knew the question behind it.

“Yes, he’s gone. He won’t ever hurt anyone again,” he told him.

After that, the boy didn’t make a move. Carver wasn’t sure what he should do either. Did he send the boy away so he could finish showering? Or did he let him stay?

It didn’t seem all that appropriate for him to be naked with the younger man. Carver knew his role was to help Gideon shift back into society. He didn’t think that involved his cock.

While the boy might have been of legal age, they still had no clue what all he’d been through. He couldn’t, in good faith, assume the boy wanted any type of physical relationship. There was no blurring the lines that way.

“Sweet boy, I think it’s time you go wait for me to finish my shower.” His voice was soft while also firm. He needed to make sure Gideon understood how serious he was.

Gideon stepped away, the hurt on his face clear. Carver cursed under his breath.

“Don’t be upset. I don’t feel right about being like this with you when you still won’t speak with me. Consent is important. Anything that happens between us needs to be acknowledged by you. I’ve only gotten you to give me signals so far. I need more.”

Time slowed as Gideon opened and closed his mouth a few times. It tore Carver’s heart open to see his sweet boy trying so hard.

“Why don’t we do this?” he said after a few moments of giving the boy time to put together his words. “You can sit on the bench while I get clean. Then I’ll get us both dry and we can go to sleep.”

Gideon nodded at the suggestion. Carver guided him to the built-in shower bench off to the side before going back under the spray.

Now that he had an audience, Carver had to work extra hard to focus on the task at hand: showering. He tried to force himself to think of the experience as something clinical. As much as his cock wanted to pretend otherwise, it wasn’t right. He couldn’t lethis mixed-up emotions lead to something the boy didn’t consent to.

It would kill Carver to cross those boundaries.

While a lot of what the Angels did blur the lines between black and white, this was one thing he refused to bend on. He would have full express permission before he so much as hugged Gideon, much less did anything more.

Though he had kissed him on the forehead. He winced, remembering the knee jerk movement.Had he already crossed the line?

Once he was clean and the water no longer ran pink with the evidence of his nefarious activities, Carver shut off the water. He motioned for Gideon to follow him. The process of drying them off went quickly as Carver chanted in his head about maintaining his control.

With both of them in pajamas, he felt more at ease. That sense of calm left him the second his sweet boy ignored the cage to climb on the bed. He moved as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Carver went to sit on the floor beside the bed but stopped as a familiar whine rang out. Gideon eyed his movements, a dip in his brows suggesting he wasn’t happy with Carver’s choice.

“You have to tell me what you want,” Carver said carefully.

Gideon tapped the bed twice.

“You want me to lie there with you?”

He tapped it twice again.

Not needing any further encouragement, Carver climbed onto the bed. They both laid atop the comforter. Though the room was cool, neither seemed to mind it.