Chapter Six
Dray
“Mind if I have dinner scheduled to be delivered for break time?” Tripp watched with fascination as Dray set about opening a section for detailing. The shading involved would be the worst, he assured, and sessions would need to be done only an hour or two at a time to keep him sane.
“If I tell you no, you’re going to make that face, aren’t you?” Dray went about sanitizing Tripp’s chest and wiping down the smooth, hairless surface. No shaving required. A deep breath and lean in made Tripp want to lick him, lick his chest, a tight pebbled nipple, anything.
“What face?” Tripp raised a brow and tensed like he wanted to move, but remained still. Dray liked a canvas that stayed still. Let him do what he wanted. Have his fun… Dray needed to get laid badly.
“That face!” Kay huffed from across the room, leaned back in a chair, texting.
“What face?” Tripp’s eyes darted about guiltily.
“The sad alpha isn’t getting his way, pouty face! I don’t even have to turn around; I know you’re doing it.” Rick sat hunched over the front desk with a caliper in one hand, sorting the piercings.
“Fine. What if I offer to buy you guys dinner, too? I won’t be offended if you take yours to go, Kay. You said you had a kid at home?” Tripp glanced over Dray’s shoulder, and he turned to watch as Kay blinked in surprise.
“Depends on what Dray is craving, and fuck yes.” Kay gave Dray a flick of a brow, and the two had one of those silent air conversations with head nods and eyeballs.
Dray frowned. Seriously, bitch? Get your own alpha to mooch off of.
Kay shrugged. Free food is free food. Tap that or I’ll go after him.
Dray flinched. I saw him first.
Kay stuck out his tongue. Then make a move. The alpha is shy as fuck!
Dray leaned his head back and huffed. I know! He’s a gentleman!
“Did I do something wrong?” Tripp flinched when Dray turned back around, trying to find words.
“Kay and Dray are trying to figure out who just got wetter at the idea of free food, NSA.” No strings attached. Rick threw air quotes up, one hand gripped to his phone. “And Dray has been absolutely craving chicken wings and fried pickles from that one place down the street all day.”
Dray glared at Rick, whipping his head around like, Okay, first of all, fuck you!
“Wings…” Dray could help the wanton heat in his voice.
“Wiiiiings…” Kay made a gargling noise as if he were drooling.
“Wings it is.” Tripp glanced to his side and utilized some ninja level dexterity and skills to pull up the website to order some wings delivery. “What flavor, what sauce?”
“Despite what the menu says, there’s only one flavor. Sweet chili.” Kay nearly moaned it out loud, and Dray had to agree.
So, Tripp ordered a massive amount of wings, humming along. “Kay, you taking yours home?”
Kay nodded. “Yes. Thank youuuu.”
“How old’s your kid?”
“Five, why?”
“He want a chicken strip meal? Kids eat discount on Thursdays, so I can throw a kids’ meal in for an extra three bucks.” Tripp added it anyway.
“Ughhhhhh.” Kay leaned back in his seat. “I love youuuuuu. Now I don’t have to cook.”
Dray clenched his gun, denting the grip tape on it quite prolifically. Another omega was touching his mate.
Dray banished the thought.
“Nut!” Rick’s cry rang out as he draped back over the chair. “All tests passed. Draaaayyy, can I have him if you don’t want him?”
“No fair, I get first dibs.” Kay licked his lips and hummed.
Rick rolled his eyes and put the jewelry trays away and slid the calipers in a drawer. “I can outrun you.”
“Bitch, I will sit on you.” And the threat of Kay, a sizeable bear shifter with a soft, padded shape and ample bottom, was to be taken seriously. He would.
Tripp ordered, Dray worked, and the other two piddled about until food arrived.
He didn’t hesitate at all, tipping the driver a twenty, and as promised, Kay took his to go with the little kid’s meal box steaming on top his own.
Rick got a container of wings to himself, and Tripp stilled while Dray cleaned and gave them each a box.
Rick sat and ate his with finger-licking gusto, but Tripp waited for Dray, sitting up with a damp sheet laid over his chest to keep things workable. And at some point, Rick got the hint and slid from his chair. “See you at home, darling.”
Chicken wings came and went, and Dray went back to shading the portion of the tattoo he’d blocked off for the day, a singular goal in mind.
But the more he sat leaned over the alpha’s skin, the more he inhaled his rich scent and the perspiration that lightly sheened only after pain, laden with…
Dray pulled his gun back and at that exact moment, Tripp reached out to cup the side of his face.
Their eyes met, and Tripp shifted his hips uncomfortably. “I meant what I said. You’re gorgeous.”
“You are too.” Dray swallowed hard and stowed his gun, popping the needle off in an act of finality. He wiped Tripp’s chest and hastily applied a bandage, avoiding eye contact.
“Can I please take you on a date?” Tripp’s scent welled with arousal, and Dray glanced over his groin, staring at a welcome bulge.
“I think you want more than a date.” Dray reached out to rest a hand on his prominent mound, fingers sliding to gauge its girth. A perfect fit, no doubt.
“I can’t help it. When you lean over me, your lashes, your lips, they look so pretty. And the way your hands move. Your touch is so gentle.” Tripp drew Dray’s hand to him, peeled off his glove, and kissed with a slow hum.
Dray pulled back and rested a hand on his belly. “I can’t.”
“And I’m not asking that you do. I’m asking for a date. I like you for you. I don’t care.” Tripp sat up and reached for Dray once more, an open hand in invitation. “But if the answer is no, I understand.”
Dray swallowed hard and stared at the offered hand. “I—I have a baby on the way. You can’t want that.”
Still, Dray reached for his hand and took it gently. And holding was all they did, warm fingers twining. “I’ve never really thought about being a father. It’s always been a goal, but… I won’t mind.”
“It’s not going to be fun. I’ll be sore and big. I’ll hurt and won’t be able to have sex for almost two months. I’ll have a baby up all night crying.” Dray swallowed.
“Maybe not, but I don’t mind you getting big. I’ll rub your feet if you want. If we can’t have sex, we can cuddle. And you’re running out of skin to tattoo on yourself—you can cover me in whatever you want. I’ll be your canvas.”
He knew Dray’s weakness, a beautiful canvas ripe for his touch. “You’re good… Sweet talk like that should be illegal.”
“And you’ll do all that crying and waking alone if you don’t have someone.
Sure, it’ll be hard, but I’ll hold them.
I’ll cook and clean. I’ll wake for feedings.
” Tripp’s sweet words earned him a kiss, one that Dray leaned up to give with sweet intent, lips touching, tongues gliding.
Forked, as a snake should be. How easily Tripp’s mouth accepted his own.
Dray pulled away, breath shuddering, chest heaving. “One date. After your tattoo is finished. Just one. I don’t want heartbreak to affect my work.”
“Deal.” Tripp barely uttered the word before Dray kissed him again, their mouths hungry, starving, chicken-flavored. Sweet chili aftertaste.
Oh, goddess, it was even better on a kiss than it was on those damn wings.
Dray couldn’t help crawling over the tattoo bed to straddle Tripp, pushing him back down. Their groins rubbed together, clothed erections giving one another a taste of friction that earned a hiss from Tripp’s throat that fluttered out.
The way he moved against the alpha, belly brushing taut abs, cocks seeking the barest amount of touch, drove Tripp crazy, his eyes pinning to beautiful slits, the snake in them a hair’s distance beneath his skin.
Tripp made a wild grab for the work tray; items still spilled across it and fumbled with a container of aftercare lotion.
With some skill, he flicked the lid and used thumb and palm to squeeze a dollop onto the heel of his hand before he sent the tube askew.
Dray drew back, confused only for half a second before Tripp reached for his waistband, under his belly with zero care, grasping his cock with the slick lotion reducing the rawness between them. “Wha…”
“Is it okay?” Tripp’s voice ground out, husky and full of lust.
“Yeah.” Dray rolled his hips, plush bottom relishing the firmness of Tripp’s cock.
Tripp had said he wouldn’t, though. Dray was too horny to turn the offer down, but it would be a mark against his character, a break of his word.
A word that…what did he say? Dray couldn’t remember as Tripp’s slick hand pumped eagerly over his cock.
His fingers expertly navigated Dray’s foreskin, pulling it back to reveal his swelling cockheads.
Dray flinched as his fingers flicked. “Be careful.”
“I will be. What do you want me to avoid touching?” Tripp kept his touch to the shaft, stroking.
“Around them, roll them. Don’t tug or flick them at an angle.
” Dray choked and rolled his hips into Tripp’s fist, growing closer to a rapidly building orgasm.
Not as good as something buried deep inside his ass, but Dray wasn’t going to complain when Tripp’s keyboard-trained fingers fondled his piercings with cautious eagerness.
He paid specific attention to the foreskin, drawing it back and forth up to his glans then down again, using it to escalate Dray’s pleasure so perfectly. “Mff… Just like that.”
Trip’s entire body went rigid, his pumping hand trembled, and cock bucked beneath his clothes. He groaned and panted, the noise of lust making Dray’s pleasure peak. “Gonna…”
“Do it.” Tripp’s growl and hiss made Dray lose his last grip, and he came, cock jerking as his insides clenched in want of penetration. Cum spilled into Tripp’s hand, onto his belly, no doubt smearing the underside of Dray’s. “Ohhh, fuck yes.”
So, when Tripp stopped moving his hips, he drew his hand back, admiring the gleam of slick cum drenching his fingers and palm. A forked tongue stretched from his mouth, and he licked, dexterous tines taking in things a human nose never could. “You needed this.”
“Okay. Now’s your tur—” Dray made to move his pants down and Tripp reached out, stopping him.
“There’re no turns with me. There’re needs, wants, and teamwork.” Tripp settled his breath down, licking his lips in a way that might have had Dray’s cock hardening again in moments. “Besides. I told you I wouldn’t, and I may need to borrow an apron or towel coming out of here.”
Dray frowned and scooted back, staring down at a growing dark patch over Tripp’s khakis. “Oh.”
“Sorry.” Tripp’s cheeks reddened. “You’re too gorgeous and smell so good. Your kiss had me, but when you started grinding… Yeah.”
Dray ran fingers through his hair and let his breath calm before he drew his hoodie off and stared down at Tripp. In a tank top that barely stretched to his navel, his belly jutted forward, and he frowned. “This didn’t bother you?”
Tripp ran a hand over his belly, massaging it ever so gently, fingers grazing over growing stretchmarks, thumb tracing his navel. “Finish my tattoo. I will take you on that date, then another, and I will make an honest omega of you. My snake says you’re mine.”
Dray stared him down and slid off. He couldn’t get his hopes up.
He’d had so many stepdads in and out of his life growing up.
Some were okay. Some weren’t. One had made sure that Dray’s papa never dated again until he’d moved out.
But the way that Tripp didn’t push, didn’t reach out after, made Dray feel better.
“This kid isn’t yours.” Dray huffed.
“They’re yours. And if you decide you want help and want a partner, I’m asking for an interview for the position.” Tripp nodded once before straightening his clothes into place and offering his hand. “Want me to hang around while you clean up and walk you to your car?”
“I live a few blocks away with Rick.” Dray shook his head. “But you’re going to offer to walk me home, yeah?”
“You know it.” Tripp grinned.
“Okay, you can take the trash out, then. It’s dark, and that’s an alpha thing, right?” Dray put his hoodie back on.
“If we’re going that route, are dishes an omega thing? Seems kinda pointless. But yes, I’ll go out in the scary dark and take out the trash. Anything else you need help wrapping up and just point me in the right direction.” Tripp clapped his hands, and Dray couldn’t complain. For once.