Chapter 50 Leo
I woke up already hard, the ache registering before my eyes even opened.
Fuck.
It was the same unwelcome problem that had been haunting me for days now. My body reacted faster than my mind, thick and insistent, my cock springing up against my stomach like it had decided to ignore every rule I lived by. I lay there for a second, staring at the ceiling, hoping it would go away if I didn’t acknowledge it.
It didn’t.
I glanced down, breath slowing as I took in the sight of myself. I was fully hard, swollen and tight, skin stretched smooth and flushed. The head was darkened, sensitive, already slick with a slow bead of precum that clung to the tip and threatened to slide down. It pulsed faintly, a heavy throb that matched my heartbeat, each beat sending another dull wave of need through my gut.
I closed my eyes and exhaled through my nose, long and controlled, trying to ground myself. This was stupid. This was dangerous. Morning wood was exactly the kind of thing I couldn’t afford right now.
“Oh fuck,” I muttered quietly.
My hand moved before I consciously decided to let it. My fingers wrapped around myself, warm and firm, the contact sending an immediate jolt through my body. I sucked in a breath as I stroked once, slow and deliberate, telling myself I was just trying to ease the pressure, not make it worse.
That was a lie.
The pleasure bloomed instantly, thick and heavy, rolling down my spine and settling low in my belly. I stroked again, thumb brushing over the slick head, smearing the precum and making me hiss softly under my breath. My cock twitched in my hand, leaking more, the sensation sharp and almost overwhelming after holding myself so tightly in check for so long.
I tried to think of anything else. The Realm. Patrol routes. Bloodhound rotations. Anything that wasn’t her.
Kristen slipped into my mind anyway, uninvited and vivid.
Her eyes when she was angry. The way her mouth tightened when she was holding something back. The warmth of her body when she stood too close, the way she looked at me like she was daring me to cross a line we both pretended didn’t exist.
My grip tightened without meaning to. My cock throbbed hard, twitching and pulsing in my hand as more precum spilled out, sticky and hot. A low groan escaped me before I could stop it.
“Fuck… fuck,” I breathed.
I slowed my strokes, forcing myself to ease up, trying to pull back from the edge I was sliding toward. My body didn’t care about logic or restraint. It wanted release, wanted relief, wanted her in ways I refused to name out loud.
Then a sound cut through the haze.
Movement. Soft. Subtle. Somewhere outside my room.
I froze instantly, hand locked around myself, heart slamming hard against my ribs. Reality snapped back into place all at once, sharp and unforgiving. I listened, every muscle tense, every instinct flaring.
Another faint noise.
“Oh fuck,” I whispered again, sharper this time.
I released myself like my hand had been burned and swung my legs off the bed, swearing under my breath as I grabbed the towel from the chair. I wrapped it tight around my waist, even though it did nothing to hide the fact that I was still painfully hard beneath it.
I cracked the door open, peering down the hall.
The door across from mine was ajar.
Kristen was awake.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, irritation and something far more dangerous twisting together in my chest. I stepped out into the hall and headed for the kitchen, forcing my shoulders to relax, forcing my breathing to steady.
She stood at the counter, hair still messy, shoving toast into her mouth like she was late for something. The sight of her, so normal and unaware, hit me harder than any blow I’d taken in a fight.
I cleared my throat, painfully aware of my body reacting all over again. I grabbed a pillow off the couch and held it in front of myself without even thinking, despite the towel already at my waist.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She didn’t look at me. “What does it look like? I’m getting ready for school.”
“You don’t need to go back yet,” I said. “It’s too soon.”
She snorted and shoved the rest of the toast into her mouth. “Too soon for what? For people to look at me? They already do.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s exactly what you meant.”
I leaned a hip against the counter, trying to look calm, trying not to sound like I was begging. “You’ve been through something. You don’t have to just jump back into it like nothing happened.”
She wiped her hands on her jeans and stepped closer. “And what am I supposed to do? Sit around here and pretend it didn’t? Let it stretch out until it’s this big scary thing I never deal with?”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
Her eyes hardened immediately.
“You may live here now,” she said, “but you’re not my dad.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
“You don’t get to ground me. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“I’m not trying to control you,” I said. “I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“Then tell me,” she said instantly. No hesitation. No wavering. “Tell me what happened the night I was kidnapped.”
Silence swallowed the room.
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
Her shoulders dropped just a fraction. Not relief. Confirmation.
“That’s what I thought.”
She grabbed the rest of her toast and walked out, leaving me standing there with a towel, a pillow, and a lie I kept choosing to carry.
I listened to her car start and fade down the road before I let myself move again. I went back to my room and dropped the towel, staring down at myself.
I was still hard. Still aching. Still leaking slightly, my body refusing to let go of what my mind wouldn’t allow.
My phone rang.
Edward.
“We found something,” he said. “You need to get to the Realm.”
I exhaled and tried to relax as much as possible. "I'll be there soon."
A wave of silence passed before Edward spoke again.
“How’s the girl?” he asked.
“On her way to school,” I replied.
A pause. “Is that wise?”
I stared at the wall, jaw tight. “I don’t have a choice.”
Whatever came next, whatever truth tried to claw its way out, one thing was certain.
Kristen must never find out what really happened that night.