Page 60 of The Runaway

And perhaps, if he leaned up and kissed Gabriel’s mouth, then Gabriel would kiss him back, and then he’d…

Who the hell was he kidding? Touching an alpha uninvited, even so kind a one as Gabriel, required far more courage than Connor possessed. And voicing the fact that he’d enjoyed a mating? He didn’t think he’d get three words out without spontaneously combusting from sheer embarrassment. So instead, he lay quietly, trying to keep still, trying not to think about Gabriel, until exhaustion finally claimed him hours later.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Given his long and dark introspection the day before, Gabriel had been dreading a slow day spent wallowing in the past. But shortly after a breakfast of last year’s apples and a handful of nuts, Connor blithely interrupted his intended self-pity session by suggesting they take a walk along the river. Seeing no reason to deny him, Gabriel agreed. They found some wild strawberries along the way, picking out the ones that hadn’t been attacked by birds yet and savouring the sweet, fresh flavour. They spotted a wild deer, peering at them cautiously from out of the undergrowth, and a hedgehog, meandering along on its search for insects. Gabriel watched Connor laugh at the antics of two juvenile crows fighting over a leaf, feeling a little of his own melancholy drift away at the open joy on the young man’s face.

Around midday, inspired by a deeper pool in the river a few hundred metres from their campsite, Gabriel fashioned a fishing pole out of a flexible stick, attaching a hook that he had tucked away in his rucksack. After eight years in the army, he had a collection of all manner of trinkets and tools in the depths of the bag, as well as the skills to put them to good use. Two hours later, two medium-sized trout had been scaled and gutted and were hanging over the fireplace, ready to be cooked that evening.

Then a stray comment from Connor about falling into the river while fishing caught Gabriel’s attention. “Can you swim?” he asked Connor.

Connor shook his head. “No. I never had a chance to learn. Grant used to threaten to throw me in the lake. It always terrified me. Drowning seems a horrible way to die.”

Gabriel regarded him thoughtfully for a long moment. “How would you like to learn?” It was not an offer made lightly, and he was cautious of pushing Connor into something that would only exacerbate his fears. He watched as Connor’s gaze drifted over the river. The pool in front of them was calm, with a gentle current, and it was only waist deep – deep enough to swim in, but an easy place for Connor to simply put his feet down, if he got overwhelmed.

“Are you seriously offering to teach me to swim?” he asked, more disbelief in his voice than fear.

“Well, it’ll take more than one day to learn properly,” Gabriel said. “But I can show you the basics. At least enough for you to get yourself out of trouble, if you ever happen to fall in.”

“That would be amazing,” Connor said, his eyes lighting up. “Now?”

“Best do it now, while the day’s relatively warm,” Gabriel said. His efforts at fishing had already informed him that the river, while no longer frigid, was still on the cool side of comfortable, and this way, they could dry themselves in the sun afterwards.

After stripping down to their underwear, they both braved the cold water, Gabriel taking longer to get himself wet than Connor did. A little under half an hour later, Gabriel had shown Connor how to move his arms and legs to swim breaststroke, and they were both now in the middle of the pool, Gabriel standing up in waist-deep water, while Connor was stretched out, floating on the surface.

“Keep you head up. Head up,” Gabriel said again, as Connor floundered about, dipping his head under the water yet again. “You’re not going to sink. I’ve got you.” He had his hand on Connor’s belly, holding him steady in the water. “You don’t need to struggle. I’m not going to let you go under. Just get used to the feel of the water around you. Let yourself float.” After a minute or two to get over his initial fears, Connor managed to do as he suggested. His body relaxed, his arms waving back and forth as he felt the water rippling over his fingers.

“Okay, just keep your head up and you should float on your own. I’m going to let you go – I’m right here if anything goes wrong – and you’re going to swim just like I showed you over to the shore.” The bank of the river was a short drop-off where the rocks fell away, and there were several knobs and crevices for Connor to grab onto. “Ready?” He waited until Connor nodded, then removed his hand. “Go!”

Connor swam, with deep concentration, towards the edge of the river, and while it was slow progress, the most notable achievement was that he neither sank nor panicked. Once he’d arrived at his destination and reached up to grip the edge of the rock, he twisted around, a wider grin on his face than Gabriel had ever seen on him before. “I did it!”

“You certainly did.”

“Can I do that again?”

“Anytime you like,” Gabriel said. “Push off the rock and swim back over to me now.”

Connor took his time in rearranging his limbs ready to have another go, but then he pushed off and swam slowly, until he landed in Gabriel’s outstretched arms. And Gabriel only realised after he’d caught the lad that they were both nearly naked and now very much in contact with each other beneath the surface of the water. He ended the swimming lesson shortly afterwards, on the excuse that it was getting too cold, but his body seemed overheated, even immersed in the chilly water. He avoided looking at Connor as he dried himself on a spare shirt and got dressed again.

By the time the evening arrived, Connor expertly getting a fire started while Gabriel spitted the fish, Gabriel realised he’d done little to no thinking about his various dilemmas all day. Connor’s words from the night before trickled through his mind. Was it enough totryto help those in need, even if he failed? Were his intentions more important than the end result of his actions? But what other alternative was there, when the whole world seemed intent on evil and he was only one man? With such great opposition, any of his actions could only be likened to trying to hold back the tide with a broom.

They cooked the potatoes in the coals and roasted the fish on sticks, eating in comfortable silence. But when Gabriel went to bed, he had more difficulty getting to sleep than he had the night before. Tonight, though, the ghosts of his past were less responsible for his restlessness, as opposed to the lingering image of Connor’s near-naked body as he’d floated in the river, all sinewy muscle and freckled skin.

Gabriel had no business at all in thinking of Connor that way, and he turned his mind to darker thoughts; death, violence and war. It was odd that the darkness he’d fought for so long was a refuge for him now, keeping his mind free of errant desires that he had no right to be feeling. But even so, it was a long time before he fell asleep.

???

On the third day of their camping trip, both men woke up late, having slept badly. After they’d dragged themselves out of the tent and had breakfast, Gabriel gave Connor another swimming lesson. He was a fast learner, though if he’d been repeatedly threatened with drowning as a punishment, he likely had a strong motivation to learn.

In the afternoon, Gabriel had intended to spend more time sorting through his troublesome past. But after an hour or more of trying to focus his mind, he was forced to admit that rather than weighing the repercussions of slavery and bloodshed, he was spending most of the time thinking about Connor. His bravery in running away in the first place. His courage in learning to trust Gabriel and Antoine. His determination to learn to swim. His boldness in claiming his share of the food and tent on this very camping trip.

The way he’d moaned in pleasure as he’d ridden Gabriel’s cock during his heat.

Gabriel wanted to do that again, with a need that was clawing at his insides. But to propose such a thing to Connor was not an option. That sort of suggestion could never be a question for Connor to accept or decline, but rather an order, no matter how much Gabriel might give Connor the opportunity to refuse. And that meant that broaching the topic was off limits, no matter how relaxed and willing Connor might appear to be.

How had Antoine bonded with Dante? And how on earth had Dante come around to be the outspoken and opinionated omega that he was now? Because Gabriel had seen for himself, on numerous occasions, that Dante was more than willing both to question his master and to make unprompted requests. But to hear Antoine tell the story, when Dante had first arrived at the estate, he’d been unable to make even the slightest suggestion about his own situation or treatment. Had the change come about before they’d bonded, or after? And how in the world was Gabriel to ever bring about such a change in Connor – an omega who had been brutally beaten for displaying the slightest disobedience?

Giving up his attempts at cohesive thought, he got up, announcing to Connor that he was going for a walk. Something in his tone must have alerted the young man to the fact that he didn’t currently want company, as Connor merely nodded and told him to enjoy himself.