Chapter 5
DOMINIC
I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. The click of the lock was loud in the quiet room and sent a jolt of anticipation down my spine. Carmine stood a few feet away with his hands in his pockets and his eyes locked on mine.
The air between us crackled with tension, and I could smell his arousal mixing with my own. My alpha instincts roared to life and demanded I claim this omega right here and now, but I forced myself to take it slow. "Come here."
Carmine crossed the distance between us and tilted his head back to look at me. The same need in his eyes was clawing at my insides. “I’m here. Now what’re you gonna do?”
I reached out and cupped his jaw with one hand.
His skin was warm and smooth under my palm, and he leaned into the touch like he'd been waiting for it.
My thumb brushed across his bottom lip, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Tell me if you want me to stop." I needed to give him an out, even though I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop once we got started.
"I won't." His voice was steady as he moved even closer. "I want this, alpha. I want you."
That was all the permission I needed to lean down and kiss him. His mouth opened under mine, and our tongues immediately tangled in exploration.
Carmine made a small sound in the back of his throat and pressed his chest to mine until we were connected there too.
My hands moved to his waist, and I pulled him tighter against me. His hard cock pressed into my hip, and it sent a surge of possessive satisfaction through me. He wanted this as badly as I did. “Fuck…”
Carmine's fingers tangled in my hair as he kissed me back with equal intensity. There was nothing soft or hesitant about the way he touched me. He took what he wanted and gave as good as he got.
I walked him backward toward the bed without breaking the kiss. When the back of his legs hit the mattress, I eased him down onto it and followed after him. The bed dipped under our combined weight, with Carmine sprawled beneath me.
He looked up at me with hooded eyes and reached for the hem of his shirt.
I grabbed his wrists and pinned them above his head with one hand. "Let me." I wanted to unwrap him myself and savor every moment of this night.
He nodded and went still beneath me. “Yes, alpha.”
I released his wrists and pushed his shirt up slowly until I could pull it over his head.
His chest was lean and defined, with smooth skin that begged to be touched.
Not rushing anything, I ran my fingertips down his sides and felt him shiver under my touch.
I found the button of his jeans and popped it open before dragging the zipper down.
Carmine lifted his hips and allowed me to remove every stitch of clothing until he was naked beneath me. He was absolutely perfect. My gaze traveled down his body and took in every detail as his thighs fell open in invitation. "Fuck, you're gorgeous."
A flush spread across his cheeks and down his neck as he tugged on my shirt. "You're still dressed."
I quickly yanked my shirt over my head before kicking off my jeans. He watched me with hungry eyes and licked his lips when I finally stripped down to nothing.
Once I was hovering over him again with my dick pressing to his, we both moaned.
Carmine's hands came up to grip my shoulders. "Dom." My name on his lips sounded like both a prayer and a demand. “Please.”
I kissed him again and slowly lowered my weight onto him. My hand slid down between his legs and found him already slick and ready. My omega's body was ready for me to claim him. My cock was throbbing as I worked him open with my fingers. “Almost there…”
His head fell back, and his breath hitched when I crooked my fingers against that special spot deep inside him. "I’m there, alpha." His voice was wrecked and desperate. "I need you inside me."
I needed that too. I pulled my fingers free and lined myself up at his opening.
The rational part of my brain screamed at me to grab a condom, but the primal alpha in me knew that wasn’t necessary.
"Should I get a condom?" I forced the words out even though I already knew what he would say.
I could smell the need to breed wafting off him, and I was there to serve him.
Carmine's eyes locked with mine, and he shook his head. "We're already beyond that, Dom."
He was right. Whatever this was between us had gone way past the point of a casual hookup the moment we locked eyes in that alley. I pressed forward as his body opened up and pulled me in inch by inch.
The heat and tightness of him nearly made me come on the spot. I gritted my teeth and held still to give us both a second to adjust.
Carmine's nails dug into my shoulders, and he wrapped his legs around my waist to pull me deeper. "Give it to me, Dominic."
I pulled almost all the way out and thrust forward again, going hard and fast. The friction was incredible as Carmine's body gripped me like a vice. Within a few strokes, I found a rhythm that had both of us panting and clawing at each other.
His slick created wet sounds of our bodies coming together that filled the room just as completely as our harsh breathing and low moans. I'd never felt anything like this before. Why was he different?
In the back of my mind, I knew the answer to that, but I wasn’t fully ready to acknowledge it. Not yet. Not until I knew he wanted it too.
After several minutes of swearing and begging, Carmine reached down and wrapped his hand around his own cock. He stroked himself in time with my thrusts until his eyes rolled back in his head.
"That’s mine." I batted his hand away and replaced it with my own.
His cock was hard and leaking in my grip as I pumped him from root to tip. When his whole body tightened up, I knew we were both close and hurtling toward the edge. "Dom, I'm gonna come."
“Me too, baby. Do it.” I thrust harder and stroked him faster. "Come for me, omega."
He cried out in relief as he spilled hot cream over my hand and onto his stomach. His whole body clenched around me, milking my precome until it triggered my own climax.
“Fuck, baby.” I buried myself as deep as I could go and let the pleasure crash over me. “You feel too good.”
When I was as deep as I could get, my knot swelled and locked me inside of him.
Carmine gasped at the sensation, and his hands scrabbled against my back. I pumped into him one last time as my hot seed filled his tight channel.
There was no way to deny it any longer. This omega was mine, and I was his. I’d finally found my mate.
I collapsed on top of him and rolled slightly with him in my arms as I tried to catch my breath.
Carmine's hands came up to run through my hair and down my back in soothing strokes as we lay connected until my knot released us.
"You okay?" I pressed a kiss to his temple.
"Hell yeah." His voice was soft and satisfied. "I’ve never had a knot before." He wiggled a little and smiled. “It’s fucking awesome.”
I chuckled and kissed him again. “I think so, too.”
He tucked his head under my chin and relaxed against me.
My fingertips explored his bare skin, tracing scars and tracking each line of muscle. A moment before my knot went down and my dick slipped out of him, his breathing evened out.
The exhaustion from being up for almost twenty-four hours finally caught up with me, so I let my eyes drift closed too. I had nowhere better to be than holding the omega I never expected to find.
When I woke up a few hours later, my arms were empty and the bed beside me was cold.
I sat up fast and looked around the room, but Carmine was gone.
His clothes were off the floor, and his bag was missing from the chair. The only sign he'd been there at all was the faint scent of him on the sheets and the soreness in my muscles.
I scrubbed my hands over my face and tried to process what the hell just happened. Didn’t he feel the mating bond between us? Was I completely wrong about that?
The man who'd been so confident and sure last night had bolted the first chance he got.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand, so I grabbed it, hoping for a text from Carmine. Instead, it was Cord. Everything good? You at home?
I stared at the message and didn't know how to answer. Nothing was good. I'd found my mate and lost him in the same night.
But I couldn't tell Cord that. Yeah. On my way to your place now.
I got out of bed and gathered my scattered clothes, trying unsuccessfully to understand why he’d leave.
That bond I felt when I knotted him wasn't my imagination or the heat of the moment. It was real and permanent, and now he was running from it.
From me.