Two Wrong Turns (Love Sync Mates Season Two #9)

Chapter 12

Nolan

My mate was miserable.

Not because of anything I’d done specifically. Moreover, he couldn’t seem to figure out what to eat because everything made him sick. Even just a whiff of food could throw him into a vomiting fit.

I hated watching him hurt this way. The bear side of me felt guilty for breeding him when his human body didn’t seem to handle pregnancy well. At the same time, he reveled in the knowledge that our mate was so properly claimed.

We were only a month into the full five and so far, I could tell my mate was going to avoid the possibility of having another cub in the future. I could only hope the delivery would change his mind. If it didn’t, I had no doubt seeing our child would encourage him to want more.

I wanted to fill our home, our den, with all the cubs he’d let me. But it was important that he was comfortable too. There would be no happily ever after if my mate wasn’t happy.

“Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do?” I asked for the millionth time as I rubbed his back.

He shook his head, sinking deeper into the pillow on my lap. “I promise this helps. You’ve already started eating everything away from the house, so I don’t have to smell it. The doctor said there isn’t anything else we can do right now.”

I sighed, unhappy with the verdict of his last visit. We’d gone over all the different things we could do to alleviate some of my mate’s discomfort. Given he’d only seen a few other human pregnancies, Dr. Hepbuck was sure this phase would pass. He also assured us that there were many different ways for pregnancy to unfold.

Just because Barrett was sick right now didn’t mean he would continue to be sick the entire time. In fact, he assured me the aversion to food would likely be gone in the next week or two. I only had to hold out until then.

I ran my hand around his side on the next pass until my palm rested against his small bump. The protrusion looked more like a food baby than an actual pregnancy, yet I was still just as obsessed. Any shifter around could sense the change in my mate’s scent, though we’d only been out twice in the last month. Both times had to be cut short when a whiff of something threw him into the throes of nausea.

“You love touching my belly now,” he teased.

I hummed my agreement. “My bear is proud to have bred you.”

“And the human part of you?”

“Just as happy. I can’t wait to raise a family with you.”

He turned to look over his shoulder at me. His smile warmed my heart, making me thankful yet again for Fate bringing us together.

I took back every bad thought I’d had of the entity over the years.

“You’re amazing, mate. I’m glad you bred me too, and I’m excited to raise a family with you. And as fucking weird as it sounds, I’m happy I don’t have to go through the typical nine months of pregnancy humans usually do.” He shivered at the words.

“I’m glad you don’t either. Anything to get our cub here faster is good in my book.”

His chuckle shook us both. “This baby is going to be so spoiled.”

“Disgustingly so,” I agreed.

My mate had no clue the lengths this town would through to welcome this new shifter baby into the community.

Thankfully, I wasn’t going to have to kill the doctor.

“I told you it would go away,” he muttered as he did his monthly check up on my mate. He was nervous because of the hovering. I couldn’t seem to get my bear to calm though.

Barrett’s hand on my arm drew my attention away from where the doctor was checking him over. He smiled up at me. It was the look that always made me weak in the knees.

Dropping to a squat, I kissed him quickly. “Yes, mate?”

“I love you,” he replied.

It was said so simply. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Like he didn’t shatter my self-control by saying those three words.

“I love you too.”

Leaning forward, I took his mouth how I wanted to. How my bear wanted to.

I could distantly hear the sound of the doctor rushing out of the living room, then there was a distinct slam of the front door. He’d probably give me shit about it later once he knew my beast wasn’t seconds away from tearing his face off.

The man was smart enough to understand self-preservation was key when a mate was pregnant.

When we pulled apart from the kiss, I smiled down at Barrett. I felt more like myself than I had before. The kiss was enough to sate my beast for the time being.

“Sorry,” I said as I ran my hand along his hair. It had grown quite a bit in the last few weeks. I loved playing with it every chance I got.

He shook his head. “No need to apologize. I understand your need to protect me. In fact, I like it a lot. We both do.”

His hand slipped down to cover his belly, as it often did now. The small bump from before was now much bigger. The cub inside him had grown quicker than any of us expected.

Dr. Hepbuck kept saying everything was going according to plan. There wasn’t anything to worry about. Even though there were three months ahead of us, my mate was chosen by Fate to carry out this birth. They wouldn’t have picked him if his body wasn’t equipped.

As great as the advice sounded, I found myself wondering how my tiny human would be able to survive. When those thoughts came, I’d have to focus on the present and trust things would turn out ok. It wasn’t my normal mode of operation; however, there wasn’t much else to do.

I moved my hands over my mate’s where they laid on his stomach. Right as I went to move, I felt a thump.

My eyes widened. “Was that?”

“Yes!” he whisper shouted. “Holy crap. Did you feel it?”

Barrett had tears in his eyes as he looked up at me. I knew I had to be in about the same shape. Our emotions were too high to deny we were both shaken at the shared moment.

“I felt it. That’s our baby. Our precious cub.”

“Do you think it’s a girl or a boy?”

I shook my head. “I don’t care either way. We could get a girl who’ll have hair like yours and be a fierce mama bear one day. Or we could have a boy who is as strong as me but loves art as much as his dad. I’ll be happy either way.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

“With all my heart,” I promise, hand to my chest and eyes serious as ever.

He pulled me down into a sloppy kiss full of excitement and need. My own desire for him, which was always at a simmer just beneath the surface, came to life as I kissed him back just as urgently.

Wandering hands led to teasing mouths, and before I knew it, we’re bare. Then I was sinking into him.

It’s heaven.

Pure orgasmic bliss.

I had to fight the urge to come too soon. He’s that fucking delicious when he’s this vulnerable with me.

Hell, that’s a lie. He’s always got me a second away from hard whether he’s naked and needy or doing something mundane like folding laundry. I can’t ever get enough of him.

And I hope I never do.

“Is this what my mate needs?”

“Yes, Alpha,” he cried out.

Fuck.

He knew what that title did to me. My knot pulsed with the urge to expand.

Not yet.

Not until I’ve got him on the edge. The closer he was to coming, the better I could make it for him. And my focus was to always make it better for him.

Despite the insistence that rough sex wouldn’t hurt the baby, I was still cautious with each thrust. I focused on making sure everywhere I hit wasn’t actually our cub. It tripped me out to take my mate this way while pregnant.

Partly because I found it highly erotic to see his swollen belly and know my seed made him that way. I wanted to keep him that way. To have him round and dripping with my release until Fate took us from this world.

On the other hand, I still worried my thrusts would hurt him in some way. I wasn’t a small man. My cock would stretch and fill him more than your average man could.

It was a double-edged sword in a way. And I was the one wielding it every step of the way.

Too caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t notice my mate’s frown until he flipped us over. When I got thrown onto my back, I froze.

Barrett didn’t slow his movement though. No, my mate was greedy for my cum. He rode me like his life depended on it.

I watched him with awe. He was gorgeous with his head thrown back and his hands roaming over his chest. As he passed over his nipples, he tweaked them, making the buds pop up. My mouth watered with the urge to suck on them. I needed a taste of him more than I needed anything else.

“Mate,” I gritted out as his body gripped me even tighter.

He purred, “Alpha,” like he wasn’t a fucking succubus stealing my soul through my dick at the moment. I would have laughed if not for the way my orgasm crashed through me.

At the first pulse of my cum inside him, Barrett shattered. He moaned low and long, the sound only egging on my release.

Grabbing his hips, I gently eased him down the growing knot at the base of my cock. He winced a bit, then grinned like he was drunk on the feeling of me inside him. I smiled at the thought. I hoped it was something like that.

I only ever wanted to bring him pleasure and happiness.

“Thank you, mate,” he whispered a second before slumping forward.

With quick reflexes, I shifted him to the side so he wouldn't be putting extra pressure on his belly. He was already lost to sleep, so I went about covering us up and holding him close. We weren’t going to get the chance to move off this couch anytime soon with how tightly he was wrapped around my knot.

“I love you, mate. Thank you for finding me.”