Chapter 8 #2
They went to their rooms to change into more comfortable clothing and then gathered their things with the kind of efficient discretion that suggested they knew exactly what was about to transpire. Penny squeezed my shoulder as he passed, whispering, “I’ll call before we come back, k?”
I nodded, watching as they filed out the door.
And then we were alone.
The silence stretched between us for a moment, heavy with the effects that weeks of separation and desperate need would do to a new bond. Dominic was studying me with an intensity that made my entire body respond, his alpha scent growing stronger in the enclosed space.
“Leo,” he said quietly, “are you sure? You’ve been through so much stress, and I don’t want—”
I crossed the room and pressed my mouth to his, cutting off his careful consideration. The kiss was desperate, hungry, full of everything I’d been unable to say during supervised visits and monitored phone calls.
When we broke apart, both of us were breathing hard.
“I’m sure,” I said against his lips. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
His hands found my face, thumbs tracing along my cheekbones with a reverence that made my knees weak. “I…” he began, but didn’t finish.
His lips parted again, words forming and dying in the same breath, eyes revealing what his voice couldn't express.
He kissed me again, deeper this time, his hands moving to my waist and pulling me closer.
The bond hummed with contentment and growing arousal, five weeks of enforced separation making every touch electric.
“There’s something I need to show you,” I said, gently pushing him away. I shivered at the growl of protest that rumbled from deep in his chest. I laced my fingers through his, tugging him gently toward the guest room. “Blake managed to get a sweater from your apartment, and I… I made something.”
Dominic followed me down the hallway, his confusion evident. “Made something?”
I paused at the guest room door, suddenly nervous. “I built a nest,” I said quietly. “I’ve never done it before—never had the instinct—but during the separation, I just… needed it.”
I opened the door to reveal my creation.
Over the past week, I’d carefully arranged every soft surface in Blake’s guest room into a perfect circle on the bed.
The expensive sheets Blake had acquired from the omega boutique shop formed the base, topped with plush throw blankets from the living room.
Dominic’s sweater—the one Blake had retrieved from his apartment—was placed prominently at the heart of the intricate arrangement, creating a nest that smelled faintly of pine and cinnamon.
The sweater had lost most of Dominic's essence over the past few weeks, his scent barely clinging to the fabric. My body ached for my alpha to sink into the soft contours of the nest, to infuse every thread with his presence.
Dominic stopped in the doorway, his scent shifting to something deeper, more complex. “Leo,” he breathed.
“I know it’s probably not very good,” I said quickly, suddenly self-conscious. “I’ve never built one before, and I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right, but—”
“It’s perfect.” His voice was rough with emotion. “God, Leo, it’s perfect.”
But he didn’t move to enter the room, and I could smell the hesitation mixing with his arousal. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve never…” He ran a hand through his hair, looking uncertain in a way I’d never seen before. “I’ve never been in an omega’s nest. I don’t want to mess it up or make you uncomfortable. I know omegas are sensitive about their nests, and if I do something wrong—”
“Dominic.” I reached for his hand, tugging him gently into the room. “I made this for us. For you. I want you in my nest.”
His pupils dilated at my words, alpha instincts responding to the invitation. “Are you certain?”
Instead of answering with words, I led him to the edge of the bed and began unbuttoning his shirt.
My fingers worked the button free on his slacks, then slid down his zipper.
I gripped the waistband, intending to tug the fabric down over the hard planes of his hips, but his hands suddenly covered mine, stilling them.
“If we do this, I need you to know—I’m not exactly feeling like my usual self right now. Because of the separation… I’m more… territorial. More possessive. The alpha instincts are stronger right now, and will be until I’ve claimed you properly again. I don’t want to frighten you.”
His hands slid to my wrists, tightening on them, betraying the control he was trying to maintain.
I looked up at him, seeing the worry in his silver gaze, but also the predatory edge that hadn’t been there before. He seemed sharpened somehow, his alpha nature more raw, more demanding.
“You could never frighten me,” I said softly. “I trust you.”
I resumed tugging down his slacks, but his hands tightened on my wrists, stilling them with firm pressure.
“Leo,” his voice had dropped to that commanding alpha tone, “I need to touch you. I need to make sure you’re real, that you’re mine.
” His grip held me still, and I could see the battle in his expression—the need to maintain control warring with the desperate biological imperative to claim, to dominate, to reassert his place as my alpha.
“No,” I said firmly, pulling my hands free and placing them flat against his chest. “I’m going to take care of you.”
“I’m going to make you feel good.” I pressed my lips to his skin, my tongue lightly brushing against his nipple. “I’ll be the one claiming you this time, my alpha.”
His control finally snapped. He snarled, his hands tangling in my hair and tilting my head back so he could claim my mouth in a kiss that was pure possession. I moaned against his lips, but then pulled back, my hands pressing firmly against his shoulders.
“Dominic,” I said, my voice steady despite my racing heart. “I said I’m going to take care of you.”
He growled low in his throat, his alpha instincts clearly fighting my direction. “Leo, I need—”
“I know what you need,” I interrupted, pushing him gently but insistently toward the bed. “But you’re exhausted, malnourished, and you’ve been taking care of yourself for weeks. For now, you’re going to let your omega take care of you.”
I could see the internal battle in his cool gray eyes—the desperate need to dominate warring with his trust in me, his exhaustion and the lingering effects of the stressed bond making his alpha instincts more raw and demanding.
“Get in my nest and lay down.” I said, mustering as much authority into my tone as I could. My command didn’t hold the same inflection that an alpha command would, but the omega in me preened when he moved to obey.
I could tell it cost him—could see the tension in his movements, the way his hands flexed as if he wanted to reach for me, to take control.
He moved deliberately, each shift of his weight measured to preserve the careful arrangement of fabrics.
As he settled onto his back, his gaze tracked me, hungry and unblinking, while my fingers worked at the buttons of my shirt.
When we were both naked, I crawled into the center of my nest, the soft fabrics caressing my skin. He moved to follow me immediately, his alpha instincts driving him to cover me, to claim me, but I held up a hand.
“Wait,” I said, settling back against the pillows. “I want to look at you first.”
He stilled, his whole body taut with barely restrained need.
His cock was already hard and thick, jutting from his body with an urgency that made my mouth water.
But more than that, I could see the predatory focus in his eyes, the way he was tracking my every movement like he was preparing to pounce.
“You’re so beautiful,” I said, reaching out to touch him. My fingers traced invisible patterns across his chest, skimming over the firm planes of his abdomen, before trailing down to where dark hair framed the base of his straining cock.
“I need to touch you, Leo.” His jaw clenched, each word scraping like gravel between gritted teeth. “I need to be inside you.”
“And you will be,” I promised, spreading my legs slowly. I guided his hand between my thighs, the evidence of my arousal coating his fingers as they slid through my slickness. “But first, you’re going to promise that you’ll let me take care of you.”
He growled low in his throat, yanking his fingers away. I watched his hand flexing at his side as he fought the urge to simply take what he wanted. “Leo…”
“Come here,” I said gently but firmly, patting the nest beside me.
He immediately moved to cover me with his body, his alpha instincts driving him to dominate. I placed my hands on his chest and pushed, using enough force to make my point.
“Down,” I commanded, my voice carrying the same authority I’d used when I told him to get in my nest. “I said I’m taking care of you. Be a good alpha.”
The battle in his expression was fierce—exhaustion, need, and the desperate desire to claim all warring together. Finally, he allowed me to push him back against the pillows, though his hands immediately reached for my hips when I straddled him.
“I missed this,” he said, his voice rough and demanding. “Missed your scent. Missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I gasped as I reached for his cock, already leaking and desperate. “But you’re going to lie back and let me show you how much, right?”
He nodded, watching as I moved down his body, pressing kisses to his chest, his stomach, the sharp line of his hip. When I reached his cock, I looked up at him through my lashes, seeing the desperate need in his steel-gray eyes.
“Leo,” he breathed as I took him into my mouth.
I worked him slowly, savoring the weight and heat of his cock on my tongue, the way his hands fisted in my nest. Five weeks of separation made every touch precious, every moan a gift.
I took my time, showing him with my mouth what I hadn’t been able to say during our forced separation—that he was mine, that I would never let anyone take him from me again.
“God, Leo,” he groaned, his voice breaking. “Your mouth… I dreamed about this every night.”
I pulled off him with a wet sound, looking up at his flushed face. “Tell me what else you dreamed about.”
“You, baby,” he breathed, his hands reaching for me. “Your tight ass around my cock, the way you get so wet and slick for me, the sounds you make when I’m buried deep inside you.”
I shivered at his words, getting wetter just from hearing him talk. “I want that too,” I whispered, moving to straddle his hips. “I want to feel your cock stretching me, filling me up.”
I positioned myself over him, already slick and ready, sinking down slowly until he was buried deep inside me. We both groaned at the sensation of being joined again.
“Fuck,” he breathed, his hands gripping my hips. “You’re so tight, so perfect.”
I began to move, setting a slow, deep rhythm that had us both gasping. “Is this what you wanted?” I asked, rolling my hips in a way that made him curse. “Your omega taking your cock, riding you in our nest?”
“Yes,” he growled, his voice rough. “I want this—want you to take what you need, baby.”
“I love when you’re inside me,” I gasped, my hands braced on his chest as I rode him harder. “Love how you fill me up so perfectly.”
“Always, baby,” he replied, his chest heaving with uneven breaths as his pupils dilated to black pools. “My perfect omega, taking my cock so well.”
The combination of his words, his touch, and the overwhelming sensation of being complete again pushed me over the edge. I came with a cry that was half pleasure, half relief, my body clenching around his cock.
The sensation triggered his own orgasm. His hips bucked upward, his muscles tensing beneath my thighs as warmth flooded deep inside me. A satisfied rumble reverberated through his chest, vibrating against my skin and sending electric shivers racing down my spine.
We collapsed together in my nest afterward, my head on his chest and his arms wrapped around me like he was afraid I might disappear. The bond hummed with contentment, finally at peace after weeks of strain.
“We’re never being separated like that again,” I said fiercely, pressing a kiss to his chest.
“Never,” he agreed, the word muffled against my hair. “I’d kill before I let anyone take you from me again.”
The possessive edge to his voice should have concerned me, but instead it made me feel safe. Protected. Cherished.
I thought about the investigation board covered in red string, about all the dangers still lurking around the edges of our happiness. And I thought about the secret growing inside me, the confirmation I’d received from Dr. Westfield.
The pregnancy I’d been keeping secret, waiting for the right moment to share.
“Whatever comes next,” I said. “We’ll face it together.”
He smiled, the first truly relaxed expression I’d seen from him since his arrest. “Together,” he agreed, and sealed the promise with a kiss.
But as we lay in my nest, surrounded by the scent of our reunion and the soft fabrics that had comforted me during his absence, I knew the time to tell him about the baby was coming soon.
The knowledge sat warm in my chest—no longer uncertain, no longer just suspected, but confirmed and growing stronger each day.
Our baby.
Our baby that was conceived during my heat cycle, when Dominic had gone into rut and we’d spent three days lost in biological imperative.
A small part of me knew it was fear keeping me silent.
I didn’t even know if Dominic wanted kids, or if he’d planned on having them someday, or if the idea of becoming a father during all this chaos would terrify him.
For now, though, I was content to lie in his arms and feel complete for the first time in five weeks. We both needed time to readjust before I added the emotional weight of unexpected parenthood.
The revelation could wait a little longer. We had time.
We had forever.