40. Penelope
Chapter 40
Penelope
The bakery is coming along so nicely, and every little change that puts it closer to being ready to reopen makes me both happy and nervous.
My dream is finally coming true, and in a better way than the last time I tried this, but there’s always that lingering worry that I’m going to fail again, and this time I’ll only have myself to blame.
But as I get closer to opening day, the part of me that’s afraid gets smaller and smaller.
The walls are painted brightly, the ovens are new and beautiful, and the fridge and back pantry are fully stocked with all the ingredients I’ll need. I’ve had meetings with suppliers, helped by the men and their connections, and I know that when the time comes, I’m going to be ready.
I’m proud of everything I’ve done here, and I stand back, looking around smiling.
This is mine. I’ve had a lot of help, but there’s no shame in that. When we open, it’ll be my recipes and my baking that I’m sharing with people, and all the little personal touches that only I can bring to it.
“Okay,” I mumble to myself. “That’s enough for one day.”
I’ve been here since early in the morning, and I’m exhausted and my feet hurt. Time to go home.
I text the men to let them know I’m done for the day and planning to head home. Of course, they insist on sending Jonas to pick me up. I don’t even argue with them, accepting the offer.
I lock up the bakery and go to stand outside, smiling when Jonas pulls up.
“How are things coming, Ms. Penelope?” he asks.
“Good!” I tell him. “I’m so close to being ready to open I can taste it, and I’m excited and scared all at the same time.”
“That’s normal, I’d think,” he says. “It’s a big thing you’re doing, but I know you’re going to be amazing at it.”
He’s belief in me warms my heart, and I smile at him in the mirror. “You’ll come to the grand opening celebration, won’t you?” I ask him. “I want all the most important people to me to be there.”
His eyes soften, and in them I see that fatherly pride once again. “I would be proud to be there, Ms. Penelope.”
We fall into silence for a bit, and then he clears his throat a little. “It might not be my business…” he starts.
“Don’t let that stop you,” I tease.
He flashes me a smile. “I remember the first time we met,” he says. “And I’ve seen how things have changed since then. You’ve been good for them, your Alphas. I’ve known Mr. Blackwell for a while now, and I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s been open and warm, and I would have said that was out of character for him just a few months ago.”
I smile, warmed all the way through by that. It’s one thing to see the changes myself, and another for a third party to say that he sees them too. “They’ve been good for me too, really. They make me better than I was, so I’m glad it goes both ways.”
I wave at Jonas after he drops me off and let myself into the house. It’s quiet inside, and I call out to see if anyone’s home.
Xavier answers, his voice echoing from the back patio, so I make my way through the house to the sliding door to join him.
He grins at me, meeting me with a kiss.
“Where’s everyone else?” I ask him.
“Still at the office. They’re going over budgets and stuff, and my brain turned off as soon as I saw the spreadsheet, so they sent me home.”
I laugh. “You mean you wouldn’t sit still and started making jokes, so they sent you home for their own sanity?”
“Got it in one,” he says, pointing at me. “But the joke’s on them because that means I get to be home with you instead of there doing budgets.”
I drop onto one of the chaises that are lined up on the patio and sigh gratefully. My back cracks when I stretch, and I toe my shoes off, relaxing into the cushion.
Xavier watches me with a smile and warmth in his eyes, “How’re things coming?” he asks.
“They’re coming. I know I’m just being nitpicky about things now because there’s not much left to do before I open. I made the same scone recipe three times today because I wanted to make sure the strawberry ratio was perfect. I know it’s good , but I keep asking myself ‘is it perfect?’.”
Xavier moves to sit on the wooden patio floor in front of my chaise. He gathers one of my feet in his hands and starts massaging it, rubbing his thumbs into the arch in a way that makes me hiss with pleasure and pain. He works out a kink, and my body practically melts.
“Oh, you’re good at that,” I sigh. “That feels really good.”
“You’ve been on your feet all day,” he says. “You deserve to be pampered a little. And I wouldn’t worry so much about things being perfect. People are going to come because you can taste the love and care you put into your food, shortcake. They’re going to come because it’s you.”
“You’re very sweet, you know that?” I grin at him as he moves to my other foot. “And very, very good with your hands. You’re so good to me.”
His eyes darken, and I catch it when he shivers a little. I remember what he said about having a praise kink, and it’s clear that he wasn’t exaggerating.
“You really like that, don’t you?” I ask him. “When I tell you how good you are for me. When I praise you for it?”
Xavier nods, looking up at me. “You have no idea.”
A sudden impulse fills me, and my blood heats as an idea takes root in my mind. I pull my foot from his hold and get up from the chaise, feeling his eyes on me as I go sit on the stone wall around the patio.
It’s high enough for what I want, and I hold my hand out to Xavier.
“Do you really want to be a good boy for me?” I ask.
“Fuck,” he murmurs on a shaky exhale. “I really do.” His cock is already tenting the front of his pants, and I feel a rush of power from being able to turn him on like this.
I smile at him, holding out a hand. “Then get on your knees and crawl to me.”
His eyes go wide, but he does it immediately, dropping down to his hands and knees and crawling across the patio to where I’m perched. His cheeks are flushed, but there’s no mistaking the desire in his eyes when he looks up at me. He wants this and wants it badly.
“Good boy,” I praise him, reaching down to stroke my fingers through his hair. “You’re so good for me, aren’t you?”
He nods. “I’m trying to be.”
“You are. And here’s another chance to prove it. I want you to eat me out, right here.” I spread my legs even more, and his face lights up.
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” he says, grinning.
He helps me out of my bottoms and that leaves my bare butt on the stone wall, but there’s a thrill that goes through me about that. Our yard is private enough that no one would see it, and having Xavier on his knees like this, ready to please me, makes my body hum with arousal.
And Xavier doesn’t waste any time once there are no more clothes in his way. He dives down between my legs, licking and lapping at me. He makes low, pleased noises, like he’s savoring the way I taste, and I shiver from that.
His tongue is so clever, dipping and swirling around my folds, lighting me on fire with pleasure. He’s learned the way I like it by now, and I tip my head back, keeping my hands in his hair while he works me up.
“So good,” I moan, hips bucking forward. “You’re so good. The way you use your mouth. The way you do what I ask you to do. You’re the best boy.”
Xavier groans desperately at that, his hips humping the air like he wants something to rut against. It’s hot to see, the way that just this already has him on the edge, and it just turns me on even more.
He pulls back at bit, to look at me with those big eyes. “Can I touch you?” he asks, his voice sounding a little wrecked.
“Please do,” I tell him, and he grins before getting back to it.
His hands find my inner thighs, and he holds on, fingers digging into the flesh there as he really applies himself to the task of getting me off.
“I love how this feels,” I tell him. “Being worshipped by you. Like I really am your queen and all you want to do is serve me.”
The noise that Xavier makes sounds like agreement, and I smile, grinding against his face a little.
Already I can feel that heat beginning to spread, the liquid warmth that starts in the pit of my stomach and spreads outward through the rest of me.
It’s not an inferno this time, but it feels amazing all the same. Praise falls from my lips as Xavier keeps licking at the places I’m the most sensitive. He laps at my clit, pressing down with the flat of his tongue, and then drags the point of it down to circle my entrance.
That’s enough to have me trembling with need, and I moan his name, arching as pleasure crashing through me. My orgasm takes me by surprise, but Xavier holds me through it, working his tongue like he wants every drop of my pleasure to be in his mouth.
He pulls back when I’m done, and he looks so turned on. His eyes are mostly pupil, gone dark with desire, and I reach out and touch his face gently.
“You taste so fucking good,” he rasps. “You have no idea.”
“Let me taste then.” I draw him to his feet and kiss him deeply, tasting myself in his mouth. He moans against my lips, sliding his tongue past them, and we make out for a few minutes, lost in each other.
When we finally break for breath, I loot down and see that there’s a damp patch on the front of his pants where his cock is already leaking with need.
“You know,” I say, trying to sound conversational and not as eager as I feel. “Good boys deserve to be rewarded.” I press the heel of my hand against his cock through his pants, and Xavier hisses in a breath.
He bucks forward, grinding against my hand, and then I take it away with a smile.
He whines softly, and I laugh before dropping down to my knees in front of him.
“You made me come with your mouth,” I tell him. “It only seems fair that I return the favor.”
“Fuck,” he groans, his fingers finding their way into my hair.
“Let me take care of you.”
He nods, and I start undoing his pants, shoving them down enough to free his cock. It’s hard and thick, flushed a bit darker than the rest of his skin, and a bead of clear fluid is welling at the tip.
I lean in and lap it up, savoring the salty tang on my tongue. I wrap one hand around his shaft and then lean in, taking as much of him as I can into my mouth.
He’s not as big as Tristan, but it’s still not easy to get even most of him past my lips, so I take my time. Licking and swirling my tongue around the head of him before going down another couple of inches and sucking slowly.
“Fuck,” Xavier gasps again. “You’re getting so damned good at this, shortcake. Goddamn.”
That makes me preen, and maybe Xavier isn’t the only one with a praise kink here. His encouragement goes a long way toward making me double my efforts, sucking him down and bobbing my head.
The sounds of me going down on him echo around us, mixed with the words of praise that Xavier keeps moaning for me.
If I hadn’t just come, this would be turning me on so much. As it is, I focus on him, cupping his balls with my free hand and stroking them gently.
He likes that, if the way his cock twitches in my mouth is any indication, and he bucks forward hard, half burying himself down my throat.
“Shit, sorry,” he gasps. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
I just hum a little, opening my mouth a bit wider so he can keep pressing his cock down more.
It feels good to be making him feel good, and I lose myself in it, working him with my mouth and my hand until his cock starts to spasm a little with pleasure.
“Pen,” he groans out. “I’m so fucking close. I’m gonna—” He breaks off in the middle to cry out, and I pull back, staring up at him.
“Then be good and come down my throat,” I say.
“Fuck. Yeah. Whatever you want.”
He pushes back into my mouth and then all the way down my throat. I gag a little before settling into it, moaning around him as I feel his knot swelling behind my teeth.
My eyes widen as he comes in hot jets down my throat, and I swallow it all, feeling so hot and dirty in the moment. Now his cock is locked in my mouth, and there’s something sexy about that. It’s effectively gagging me, so when he asks if I’m okay, all I can do is nod a little to show I’m fine.
Xavier stares down at me, and there’s so much adoration in his eyes. It’s like he can’t get enough. He strokes my hair, and it feels like we’re the only two people in the world for the moment.
“You’re amazing,” he breathes. “Just when I think you can’t get more incredible, you always do. It’s wild.”
I hum with pleasure, drooling a little where his cock has my mouth split open.
While we’re locked together, Tristan and Dominic come home. They follow Xavier’s call to the patio, and when their eyes fall on me, still on my knees with Xavier’s cock down my throat, both of them wear near identical heated looks.
“Well, this is a nice sight to come home to,” Dominic drawls, his eyes flicking over me from head to toe.
I moan a little, and Xavier’s cock goes down enough that he can pull out of my mouth. I work my jaw, a little sore from being held open for so long, and then get to my feet. Dominic pulls me into a kiss, not seeming to care that I just had his friend and packmate’s cock in my mouth. Tristan follows suit, both of them lingering a little.
Xavier gives the two of them a look, and they look back, Dominic nodding.
“What’s going on?” I ask, glancing between them.
“We have something for you,” Tristan says.
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” I tell them automatically.
All three of them give me a look that says they know they didn’t have to, but they did anyway. You’d think I would be used to that look by now.
I follow them into the house, where a large sign leans against the wall. I turn my head and realize it’s a sign for my bakery. The name I decided to go with, “Shortcake”, Xavier’s nickname for me, is written on it in pink calligraphy that sort of looks like fancy icing on a cake.
It’s beautiful, and more than I ever would have expected. “Oh my god.” I look between the three of them again. “This is so nice, you guys. I can’t believe you did this.”
“You needed a sign,” Dominic says, shrugging. “And it was important that we did something for this venture.”
“You mean besides buying me the building?”
“Yes. Besides that.”
“Is it perfect?” Xavier asks.
I open my mouth to assure them it is, but something holds me back. It’s a lovely sign, but I didn’t envision the name of the place in pink. It feels ungrateful to say that, so I just nod. “It’s amazing.”
Tristan raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t say perfect,” he points out. “What’s wrong with it.”
“Nothing! It’s nothing wrong, exactly…”
“But it’s not perfect.”
I make a face, feeling rude for not being completely in love with their gift. “It’s just that I envisioned it in a different color,” I say. “That’s all.”
“Then we’ll get you a different color,” Dominic says, like it’s as easy as that. “What color did you want it? We should have just asked, but we wanted to surprise you.”
“I didn’t mean to make it a big deal…”
Xavier pokes me in the side gently. “You’re not. We want to give you something you’re going to love completely. So if that means we have to redo it, then that’s fine. Pretty good isn’t good enough for you. It has to be perfect.”
The warmth I’m coming to be familiar with spreads through me at their words, and I duck my head, trying to hide the pleased, honored smile on my face.
They make me feel so sappy, but instead of dwelling on that, I go to fetch my notebook so I can show them the shade of lavender I want.