Illicit (The Wrong Alpha 3)

Anthony was very stiff against him for a moment before his arms—his very bare, muscular arms—came up around him in a bone-crushing hug. “Now tell me, kitten,” he whispered hoarsely against Liam’s ear.

Liam shivered, struggling to focus and remember what they had been talking about. Right. The overheard conversation. The poison.

Fear sliced through the fog of pheromones again, and Liam’s arms tightened around Anthony’s back. He couldn’t let anyone hurt him. Not him. Never him.

“I’ve just overheard a man arguing with someone on the phone. He said he almost succeeded in slipping some poison into your glass of whiskey a few days ago and that he’d try again.”

Anthony hummed thoughtfully. “Nothing else?”

Frowning, Liam pulled back a little to look him in the face. “How can you be so calm about it?” he said, his arms still wrapped tightly around Anthony’s back. “Why are you not freaking out?”

Some emotion flickered across Anthony’s face. At last, he sighed. “I’m not surprised because it wouldn’t be the first attempt on my life.”

Liam’s heart jumped to his throat. “What? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Anthony seemed to hesitate before saying, “I didn’t want to worry you. And there are some things even I am not completely sure of. I can only tell you that my near-mortal wound wasn’t received in the battle. Someone shot me with a sniper rifle after the battle was over.”

Liam had never felt such a mix of impotent anger and fear. “How—who?”

Anthony shrugged. “The sniper wasn’t caught, so we can’t know for sure. But that’s why I was half-prepared for another attempt on my life.” His brows drew together, his thumb tracing absentminded patterns on Liam’s lower back. “Poison wasn’t something I expected, though.”

“Do you think… Do you think it’s Uncle?” Liam said.

Anthony gave him a piercing look. “What makes you think that?”

Liam’s lips twisted into a crooked smile. “Well, it’s pretty obvious who benefits from your death, isn’t it?” Losing the fight with himself, he buried his fingers in Anthony’s tousled hair and threaded them through it. It was oddly therapeutic. It calmed him, drove it home that Anthony was there, that he was all right. For now.

“Is that… Is that the only reason you suspect him?” Anthony said, his gaze becoming heavy-lidded as Liam stroked his hair. It looked kind of endearing, the way he was leaning into Liam’s touch like a big, wild cat that was enjoying itself against its will.

Feeling a rush of overwhelming affection, Liam leaned in to peck him on his stubbled cheek. Just a little peck. Surely it was innocent enough? He’d seen Jules doing the same, and it wasn’t weird at all. It was totally brotherly.

Except it didn’t feel very brotherly. His lips trembled as soon as they touched Anthony’s skin, wanting to linger. Wanting to taste. Wanting to suck. Gods, he smelled divine. It didn’t help that Anthony’s arm around him didn’t feel brotherly, either, holding him indecently close, Liam’s oversensitive nipples rubbing against Anthony’s firm chest on every inhale.

Trying to distract himself, Liam said, “It’s not the only reason. I know Uncle can be very ruthless when he wants something.” The debacle with Jules’s first mate was proof enough of it.

“What do you mean?” Anthony said, his lips pressing against Liam’s cheek.

Shivering, Liam rubbed his cheek against Anthony’s and closed his eyes. “It happened a few months ago,” he said, and proceeded to tell him about the feral Xeus that Uncle Wayne had kept in the basement and experimented on. Liam knew the story sounded unbelievable even in the best circumstances, but it probably sounded like a disjointed mess when he could barely string two thoughts together, the air so full of their pheromones it felt like being wrapped in a thick, comfortable blanket on a very cold night. He never wanted to emerge.

Liam became distantly aware that he was squirming, rubbing his chest—his nipples—against Anthony’s pecs like a cat. Like a very shameless cat in heat. But he couldn’t seem to stop. His nipples were so very sensitive. Fuck, he wanted to rub them against Anthony’s chest, skin to skin. He needed to.

Before he could think twice, Liam unbuttoned his shirt and did just that, whimpering as his hard nipples pressed against Anthony’s bare chest. It felt like heaven. But he still wanted more.

“Li,” Anthony ground out, his voice tight, almost pained. “We can’t. Don’t you remember what we agreed on?”

“Brothers touch each other all the time,” Liam mumbled incoherently, taking Anthony’s hand and putting it on his left pec. Anthony’s fingers immediately found the nipple and rolled it between them, making Liam moan. He was so hard and so slick his underwear was drenched. He would give fucking anything to have Anthony’s cock in him now. Anything.

“Fuck,” Anthony said, his other hand cupping Liam’s chest, too and then squeezing the other teat. “I want…” He leaned down and swallowed Liam’s left nipple in his mouth.