Chapter 16 Face Touching
FACE TOUCHING
Doc knew he should pull out.
He knew he should let Ottis get rid of the two loads of cum inside him, because neither of them had discussed this. Neither of them had asked for it.
But Ottis had already spent two hours with the first load locked in his body, and he had a second load now, filling every nook and cranny.
The thought sent a wild thrill up Doc’s spine, at the same time it made him furious with himself.
Ottis didn’t ask to be knocked up.
We don’t know that it’ll take for sure.
How the hell did I forget to use a condom?
Would Ottis hate Doc if he conceived, even though he said he didn’t mind? Doc chewed his lip, trying to convince his lizard brain to pull out.
“I’ve... never thought seriously about being a dad,” he said.
Ottis turned, his hair rustling against the pillows. “Really? But you have a nursery.”
“I acquired those things before my injury. After that... It was difficult for me to keep an omega.”
Ottis inhaled sharply. “Oh. Will you... If you don’t mind, will you tell me what happened?”
Doc sighed, allowing the memories to wash over him.
He owed Ottis that much. “I was injured while trying to help a fishing village with their kraken problem. At the time, I was in my human shape, trying to stay undercover because I had made that place my home. But the kraken had been edging too close to the village, smashing the fishermen’s boats when they sailed out to sea.
It got to the point where the villagers were no longer afraid of it; they were furious. And they wanted to mount an attack.
“I couldn’t stand aside and watch them fail.
I was just over a hundred years old then, and I had a passing familiarity with krakens.
So I joined the fight to keep the villagers safe.
We had to get the boats close to the kraken to attack it, but that proximity also made us vulnerable.
The kraken spat acid on me. My human skin doesn’t protect me from much. ”
“Oh no,” Ottis breathed, sounding horrified. “What did you do?”
“I shifted,” Doc sighed. “The acid still corroded my scales, but at a much slower rate. I managed to lure the kraken closer to shore so I could fight it more effectively, and killed it soon after. The villagers were grateful. I couldn’t stay around for long though.
Word always spread; I had heard of terrible things happening to dragons elsewhere.
So I left before the villagers could realize the extent of my injuries.
My face would’ve given away my identity. ”
“Did you get any treatment?” Ottis asked, concerned. He wriggled so he was no longer impaled on Doc, instead turning around to face Doc in the darkness. “That was like... three hundred years ago. Was there even any decent medicine back then?”
“Some. I had to go to some friends I trusted, but the journey took a few days. I might have been slightly delirious by that point.” Doc winced. “I fainted on their doorstep. They treated me, and when I woke up, they told me I had been unconscious for a week.”
Ottis sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh no.”
Doc shrugged. “Eventually, I recovered. But I quickly realized that omegas were intimidated by my face, if not outright repulsed. There were a handful who stuck around for a while, but sooner or later, they always confessed that they felt uncomfortable about me meeting the rest of their family.”
That still hurt.
Ottis growled. “That’s not fair of them. You’re great.”
Doc huffed. “Sweetheart, you barely know me. We met each other two days ago, and half of that time, we spent in bed.”
A soft laugh. “Well, I know enough. You like having Marcie around. You touch me with care. You bought things for me without really knowing who I am, and you don’t think I’m terrible when I make a fool of myself.”
“You’re mine,” Doc rumbled, loving the words in his mouth. “I’ve kidnapped you for the foreseeable future.”
Ottis wriggled. “You made me sign a kidnapping contract. That was what made me start to trust you, I think.”
Warmth unfurled in Doc’s chest, bright and hopeful.
Well.
They were still talking to each other in pitch-darkness, and Ottis still didn’t know what Doc’s scars looked like.
That was a sobering thought.
“We should... discuss the possible consequences,” Doc said slowly. “I’ll pay for any medical care you need, if you conceive. I’ll be responsible for your comfort and safety. Food, shelter, foot rubs, and all that.”
“Okay,” Ottis said.
He submitted so easily that Doc’s alpha instincts roared. “Good.”
Ottis snuggled closer, fitting himself against Doc’s chest. “This is better than what I had before.”
Doc almost didn’t want to know, because he didn’t want to get upset in front of Ottis. “What did you have before?”
“It was just me. Like I said, it was a one-night stand. I didn’t have a way to get in touch with the alpha after that, and I didn’t particularly want to. He wasn’t all that great.”
Hot anger surged through Doc’s chest. He swallowed it down, taking a few moments to breathe deeply. The rage went away. “I would’ve punched him for you.”
Ottis laughed and draped his arm over Doc’s waist. “I would have appreciated it. Thank you.”
Doc breathed out, trailing his palm down Ottis’ back. “I really am sorry. I should’ve done better with your heat. You weren’t exactly in your right mind, but I still was. And I... forgot. I let my desires get the better of me.”
The shame was suffocating.
“It’s okay,” Ottis said.
“It’s really not. You shouldn’t just tell an alpha it’s okay. I would’ve punched me—”
But Ottis shook his head against Doc’s chest. “The fact that you’re saying all this tells me that it’s okay. I trust you. I enjoyed your... loss of control.”
Ottis rubbed himself against Doc, all bare skin.
Doc exhaled shakily. Ottis’ forgiveness was more than he deserved, and it felt like a balm against his ragged edges. “Ottis Whiteclaw, you are precious.”
“I am?” Ottis snuggled harder, his tail twitching against Doc’s hip. Doc brushed his fingers through Ottis’ hair, following the slope of his thin shoulder down his back, along the dip of his spine.
“Of course you are,” Doc murmured. “Any alpha would be lucky to have you as their mate.”
Ottis purred louder, wrapping himself around Doc. After a stretch of quiet, he said, “Doc?”
“Hmm?”
“Can I... May I touch your face?”
Doc’s breath froze in his lungs.
“You don’t have to let me,” Ottis said quickly. “It’s just a thought. I just... Maybe if you’re comfortable with it at some point, maybe we can talk about it then.”
But it was exactly like Ottis said, wasn’t it? The fact that Ottis was giving him this choice, this courtesy... It changed things.
Doc swallowed past the tightness in his throat. He had to swallow again, his heart suddenly racing.
He tried not to think about all the omegas who had taken one look at him and walked away. “Y-yeah,” he croaked, more nervous than he had been in a long time. “You may.”
Ottis touched his chest first. He pressed his small hand over Doc’s heart, where it thundered between them. Then Ottis leaned in, his lips brushing Doc’s collarbone. Slowly, his hand crept up Doc’s chest to his throat, then higher, to his jaw.
The kraken had cost Doc most of the nerve endings in the lower half of his face. Whenever something touched him there, he felt it as a muffled pressure. Now, as thin fingers skimmed along his jaw and smoothed over his cheek, Doc held his breath.
“Huh,” Ottis whispered, sliding his fingers gently back and forth, over the horrific scars. “They’re just... bumpy. Like mine.”
“You don’t have to look at yours,” Doc said dryly.
“This is a part of you. In fact, you shouldn’t be judged on them at all. You got these from saving a village,” Ottis said, his voice growing stronger and more indignant. “You go on missions to save people. You’re a good alpha.”
“And yet,” Doc said, his pulse stuttering.
“Those omegas missed out.” Ottis pushed lightly until Doc rolled over onto his back. Then he climbed onto Doc; his hands returned to Doc’s face.
Instead of lingering on the scars, Ottis swept his thumbs up, caressing the unblemished parts of Doc’s cheeks.
He carefully stroked Doc’s eyelashes, then followed the ridge of his nose up to his eyebrows, gently tracing them.
Ottis smoothed his fingers over Doc’s forehead, running them down the sides of his face, rubbing light circles over Doc’s scars.
Just when Doc thought Ottis might be done, Ottis brought his thumbs up to Doc’s lips, stroking them from one corner to the other.
“Your mouth is so soft,” Ottis whispered.
Doc grinned. He felt his lips stretch, Ottis’ fingers resting lightly on them. Ottis kept petting Doc’s mouth, back and forth like he was trying to map Doc’s smile.
This... This felt like care.
Doc’s heart stuttered again.
Careful not to scare Ottis away, he gently took Ottis’ hand and pressed Ottis’ fingertips to his lips, lightly kissing them.
Ottis’ heart stuttered too.
“You’re perfect,” Doc whispered, leaning up to nudge their faces together. He hesitated, then brushed a barely-there kiss to Ottis’ cheek.
Ottis’ breath hitched. “So are you.”
In the dark, while Ottis still couldn’t see him, Doc caught Ottis’ lips in a gentle kiss.