Chapter Seventeen #3
“You’re missing out on quite the treat, darling,” he taunted our alpha. “Our boy is so wet, you’d be forgiven for thinking him in heat.”
My cheeks flamed, but I bucked my hips, trying to encourage him to move those sexy as fuck fingers already.
A dark chuckle came from the phone, but my eyes felt too heavy from pleasure to open properly.
“And you, dear-heart? How slick are you?”
I whined in protest as Dexter’s fingers slipped from me. He turned in his seat to mimic my position, reaching between his thighs and arching from the couch with a gasped, “So slick, alpha.”
“Mmmm,” Sergio’s hum was blissful and ragged all at once. “I want to watch you kiss and pleasure each other while you imagine me fucking you. Can you do that for me, my beautiful omegas?”
Was the sky blue? The grass green? The—oh, holy fuck.
Dex had wasted no time in plunging his fingers back inside me, curling to prod at my prostate. I cried out wordlessly at the sudden onslaught of pleasure; grinding down onto his hand to seek out more of the intense bursts of sensation.
Forgetting about the phone and the noises coming from its tinny speaker, I craned my neck, blindly searching for Dex’s mouth. I sighed and swallowed his moans, feeling desire and need crackle between us. Idly, I wondered how much more intense this would feel once we were bonded.
If we can bond…
I shoved the doubt aside, not wanting it to interfere with the pleasant buzz beneath my skin. The slide of Dex’s tongue against mine. Our breathy sighs and whimpers. His fingers thrusting in and out of me, taking me to the edge of release while I clumsily fumbled to stroke his leaking cock.
“Oh, fuck, look at you both.” The compliments and praise lurking in Serge’s tone inched me closer to the precipice. “Nnngh, do you have any —ah— any idea how hot you are together? I’m going to…fuck…I’m about to come.”
Dex and I wrenched our mouths apart, breathing heavily, our hands still moving as we focused on our alpha. With our attention on him, he came apart, coming hard over his fist, belly and the crumpled white sheets.
The sounds he made, combined with the murmured confession that he was popping his knot, had me keening and erupting over my own abdomen, clenching around Dex’s fingers and coating him with a rush of slick.
“Jesus,” Dex hissed, bucking up frantically into my fist, turning bodily towards my side. I’d barely maintained my pace or hold on him, but that didn’t seem to matter, “oh gods.” Wet warmth splattered over my hand and thigh as he shuddered through a fast, but intense, orgasm of his own.
In the aftermath, after our heart rates settled and sleepy satisfaction swept over us, I giggled softly. The creeping doubt had eased away, erased by endorphins, Dex’s touch, and Serge’s soft words of praise.
“Two weeks,” our alpha said with a lazy smile of his own. “Two weeks and, even if I still have more to sort out, I will return. I promise.”
“We’ll hold you to that promise, old man,” Dexter replied before pressing a gentle kiss to my shoulder. “And if you haven’t returned, we will retrieve you ourselves.”
Closing my eyes, I grinned.
I liked the sound of that.
Two weeks sounded manageable when I was still floating in a post-orgasmic haze, but it felt like torture in practice.
Dex must have felt the same way, because he was waspish and snarky, reminding me of the man he’d been when he first arrived in Shifters Sanctuary instead of the sweet mate I’d found at that fateful Unlocking party.
In turn, I was irritable with him, hating that he was taking out his frustration on me — the mate who had stayed with him and not gone gallivanting over Europe.
We threw ourselves into our investigative efforts, both for the pack and for helping Sergio.
I didn’t know about Dexter, but I was running myself ragged.
Even the sex had dried up, because I felt exhausted to my marrow after spending most days traveling to and from nearby towns to carefully ask about procuring illegal scent blockers, then using what little free time I had reaching out to my contacts in Europe to try and organize shifter-friendly transport options for items that human Customs agents would probably seize if they discovered them in transit.
On top of all that, I was also making time for Brandt and his kids, not wanting him to suspect anything was up with me.
So, I was stressed, and tired, and desperately missing my mates.
Even the one who was seated on the other end of the couch.
“Would you stop making that sound?” Dexter barked, and I scowled.
“What sound?”
“Hmmpphh,” he exaggeratedly mimicked a sigh, then curled his lip. “That sound. It’s irritating.”
“You’re irritating,” I snapped back at him, the pinnacle of maturity.
Rolling his eyes, Dexter asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be following a lead on the blockers today?”
Feeling argumentative, I folded my arms and demanded, “Weren’t you the one who said we’re not detectives?”
“It’s not my brothers making us do this.”
“They’re not—you know what? Fuck you.” I stood up, feeling a surge of what I knew was irrational rage. “I’m going. At least I’m being useful.”
He also pushed to his feet, closing the space between us and jabbing his index finger into my chest. “I’ve been putting in just as much effort as you have, and you know it.”
I didn’t have a response because, yeah, he was right.
He had been visiting all the little townships nearby as well.
Whoever was selling the blockers had covered their tracks, though, and nobody seemed willing to talk to us given our connection to the pack Alpha, and to Eric, who had made his stance on the use of blockers during the Unlocking parties very clear during the last pack meeting.
Ugh. Eric.
Just thinking his name reminded me that I still hadn’t gone to ask about birth control.
I’d been putting it off because I didn’t want him asking questions.
He knew I wanted to stumble upon an alpha and satisfy my omega’s dreams of having kids, so me asking to be put on the pill he and Brandt had created was probably going to spark his curiosity.
And Eric, once curious, was a pain in the ass.
But I had told my mates that I would do it, so that’s what I set off to do.
“You want to go on the pill?” As expected, I could hear —and see— Eric’s curiosity piquing.
He leaned forward in his desk chair, dangling his hands between his legs with his forearms braced on his knees casually.
But his gaze was sharp and assessing. “The last time we talked about it, you were just as gung-ho about finding an alpha and having an instant family as Brandt was.”
I cleared my throat as my own gaze skittered sideways.
We were in his office in the clinic, a space that screamed ‘medical facility’.
There were framed posters of deconstructed anatomy on the walls, and plastic models of various body parts on his shelves.
An exam bed was pushed against the far wall, and there was a set of scales on the floor, as well as one of those retractable height measuring charts set into the wall. It was all very Eric.
“Yeah,” I said, my eyes locked on one of the anatomy posters, “I know.”
“So,” he prodded, “what’s changed?”
Half-truths weren’t really lies, were they?
I shrugged and forced myself to look back at him. “I guess I’ve decided that maybe it would be better to get to know an alpha first, you know? I mean…I’m only four-hundred-ish. Why rush it when —if— fate does give me the answers to my wildest dreams?”
“Hmm,” he didn’t sound entirely convinced, but I knew there was nothing tangible for him to grasp onto if he wanted to call me out on my bluff. Eventually exhaling, he sat back and nodded. “Okay then.”
I blinked. Was he really letting go of it so easily?
Chuckling at my obvious surprise, my younger brother shook his head.
“People change their minds about having kids all the time. And, with how much time you’ve been spending with Bran, well, I can’t say I’m surprised that you’re finally on the ‘take precautions’ bandwagon with me.
” He turned to type at his computer, then shot a conspiratorial wink over his shoulder.
“Don’t worry; I won’t tell Bee that his kids have put you off desperately wanting your own. ”
“That’s not—” I protested, then shut my mouth with an almost audible snap. It was much easier to let Eric believe that my skittishness on the topic was for fear of upsetting Brandt rather than the fact that I was hiding an alpha from him. I breathed out slowly. “Thanks.”
Sorry, Bee. I mentally apologized to Brandt for using him and his kids as scapegoats. Scapedragons? Scapeunicorns? Whatever.
“Honestly,” Eric continued as he tapped away at his keyboard, “Even with the nanny, I have no idea how he and Micah do it. I mean…five kids under the age of two?” He shuddered. “Our niblings are cute and all, but…no thanks, right?”
“Five is excessive,” I had to agree, my shoulders slowly coming down from around my ears as I relaxed into the chair beside his desk. “I’m pretty sure they’re knee-deep in diaper changes at this point.”
“Ugh,” Eric’s face scrunched, “I just don’t see the appeal. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy that Brandt and Micah are happy, but…”
“You’re not the super paternal type, I know.”
“I’m not the at all paternal type,” he corrected me.
My lips twitched as I looked around his office again. The posters and models were all heavily focused on the human reproductive system, with some hand-drawn posters of what he and Brandt had determined to be the male omega reproductive system thrown in as well.
“So…you specialize in reproduction and fertility, but you don’t like babies,” I teased.
Finishing up with whatever he was typing, he spun his rolling chair around to face me and shook his head. “I don’t dislike babies. Babies just…don’t like me.”
This time, I couldn’t contain my amusement. I guffawed. “Babies don’t know what they like or dislike, little brother. You know that. You’re just awkward with them and they pick up on the tension.” My laughter softened out. “You know…I don’t think it would be the same if you had your own.”
He was shaking his head again even before I finished the sentence. “Nope. I’m not looking for an alpha. I’m content just observing everyone else’s bondings. I don’t need to experience any of it myself.”
“Hmm.” This time, I was the one humming with the knowledge that I was being fed half-truths. “Well, like you said, people change their minds all the time. You might one day, too.”
“Doubtful,” he replied, then swiftly changed the topic back to me.
“Anyway,” he said, “part of the process Brandt and I have refined over the past couple of years is to match the dosage with your species’ hormone levels.
So, before I just throw a package of pills at you, I want to run a couple of blood tests.
Plus, we need to check your blood pressure and overall health, too. ”
I groaned. “I knew you’d turn me into one of your projects,” I grumbled.
My brother just stared at me expectantly until I caved.
“Fine,” I thrust out my arm, “do your worst.”