Chapter 14
MIKA
"Are you … asleep?" I asked.
"Gods no." Gabe's hot breath ghosted over my nipple, and it beaded instantly, still oversensitive from his earlier love bites. "I need a minute. It's so … fuck, you're so warm and tight."
It had been a long time since I last bottomed, and it gave me deep satisfaction to know I'd brought my mate to the edge of orgasm by simply letting him inside. His slick tingled against my walls. I canted my hips, and his cock nudged my prostate. My vision blurred, and I moaned.
"You're making it worse," Gabe scolded.
"Not gonna last. Feels too good."
He laughed, and my chest loosened. In my head, our first time was supposed to be perfect, but that was a high bar when we didn't know each other that well yet.
Gabe was the most attractive omega at the wedding by far, and I got to take him back to my hotel room afterward.
We hadn't shared our deepest secrets or spent enough time together to finish each other's sentences, but that would come in time.
Right now, we were two compatible people making each other feel fucking fantastic.
Gabe braced himself on an elbow and slotted his arm between us, taking my cock in hand and stroking in time with his thrusts.
The rest of my brain shorted out, my vision clouded, and I melted into the bed, mindlessly fucking into his hand while he drilled into me.
Too soon, I was on the edge, moaning into his ear, "I'm close. "
"Oh, thank the gods," he muttered. "I … fuck, Mika. I'm coming."
He slammed his hips into me and froze, the motion against my prostate sending me tumbling headlong into my own orgasm while lying still beneath him, my channel flexing involuntarily around his hard cock while mine spurted between us.
I tried to hold back my knot, but it popped anyway, the burgeoning flesh pushing Gabe's fingers up my shaft.
When his thumb grazed my sensitive tip, I cried out again, and another spurt of cum dribbled between us.
"Are you all right?" he asked. "Was that—"
"Fucking amazing," I said into his curls before kissing his temple.
"Yeah?" He lifted his gaze to mine.
"Are you kidding?" I tried to frown at him, but then his semi-hard cock twitched inside me, sending a wave of aftershocks through my channel. It was all I could do to keep my eyes from rolling back inside my head in pleasure.
"But it was so quick, and I didn't do any porn acrobatics."
I barked a laugh at that. "I came at the same time you did, so it wasn't too quick. And what are porn acrobatics?"
I was sorry I asked when he rose up on his knees and his cock flopped out of me.
"Like this." He rested my ankle on his shoulder and demonstrated, his cock flopping while he fucked the air.
"Or this." He tugged my legs on top of his, folding me in half and leaning over me.
This time, his cock was close enough to rub against my balls.
"We'll do all the porn acrobatics next time," I said.
His gaze softened, and he gripped my knot with both hands. "Next time. I like the sound of that."
I wanted to ask him where he'd gotten the idea that alphas only topped, but he squeezed again, and I forgot my question in the throes of a full-body shiver. "Keep doing that."
He made it even better by adding more slick, but he wouldn't meet my gaze when he said, "I'll need at least a week before I can handle your knot."
"Take all the time you need," I said between breaths. My head dropped back to the pillow, and I relished every squeeze, stroke, and swipe of his thumb over the head.
"I was joking, Mika."
I lifted my head to frown at him. "What? Why?"
"'Once an alpha springs a knot, he has only one thing on his mind,' or so my dad always says."
"Sleep," I said.
"Sex."
I dropped my head back to the pillow and angled it his way so I could gaze at him with one half-open eye. "Not this alpha."
He nodded. "I thought you might say that."
My knot had deflated while we talked, and now he shimmied backward off the bed and darted to the bathroom. I dosed for a while, waking up to the feel of a warm washcloth scrubbing cum out of my chest hair before dipping lower to clean between my legs.
"You don't have to do that," I mumbled.
"You let me fuck you," he said, his tone filled with awe. "Now let me take care of you."
I was happy to be clean and dry, and even happier we had blasted another of my omega's alpha stereotypes. Win, win.
The next morning, we settled into life like an old married couple. Gabe ordered coffee and croissants from room service. We ate in bed before packing up and checking out at ten.
Too nervous to get to the compound early, I offered to drive him up the coast. It didn't take long to leave the city behind and escape into the pines.
At the turnoff for the state park, I slowed to the fifteen mile-per-hour speed limit, slamming on the brakes for a yappy squirrel who stopped on the paved road to give me a piece of her mind. We pointed at wildlife and took swigs of water each time we could see the ocean through the trees.
At the first picnic area, I pulled over. My SUV was roomy inside, but I never missed a chance to stretch my legs.
My meerkat wanted to frolic in the pine needles, but it wasn't safe. This far from habitation, we could cross paths with mountain lions or bears, and not the fun shifter variety.
We shared anecdotes from our time apart at the wedding while we walked through the trees.
The conversation wasn't nearly as important as the warmth of his hand in mine.
We reached a peak overlooking the ocean, but I couldn't look away from him.
Gabe's blue eyes shimmered in the sunlight as he watched the waves, but then he turned his gaze on me, and I swore he was the sun. I already had it bad for my omega.
The moment we started back toward the SUV, my palms started sweating and my heart rate sped up. Family dinner didn't always make me nervous, but when it did, it was usually warranted.
"Your mom is really cool," Gabe said, trying to put my mind at ease.
"I know, but—"
"No buts. She's awesome, and you love her."
"Of course I do, but—"
"So, whatever happens today is done out of love, even if you don't like what she has to say."
I laughed. He already knew her too well. "She got to you!"
He laughed and held up his hands. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You want to move in with her!"
He shook his head so hard it made my neck ache. "I absolutely do not. But the house sounds nice," he said with a squeak.
"The house will be right next to Bruce and Becca's, on a cul-de-sac backed up to woods a lot like these."
He frowned. "Sounds an awful lot like you already said yes."
"What can I say? Mom's super persuasive when she wants to be."
"Which is always?"
"Always," I agreed. "Come on. If we arrive before the rest of the family, she'll tell you all about it. Be prepared to be bored with room sizes and countertop styles."
We climbed back into the SUV, and he reached across the center console to take my hand. "Being mated to me isn't so bad, is it?"
I wanted to kiss his pursed lips, but he needed to hear me say the words. "You're the perfect mate, Gabe. Smart, funny, and the fastest sketch artist I have ever seen."
"Admit it, I'm the only sketch artist you know."
"Well, there was the one time I got mugged. She took forever to get his eyebrows right."
He frowned. "You were not mugged. Shifter alphas don't get mugged."
Dammit, he saw right through me. "Okay, so I wasn't mugged.
I was pretending with one of my little cousins, and she used finger paints for the portrait.
" I pulled onto the road back to Pacific Coast Highway, my fingers trailing across Gabe's knuckles as I avoided potholes and another feisty squirrel.
"What I mean to say is, I'm glad you're my mate.
I like everything about you." I almost slipped and said the other L word, but it was too soon for that.
I could feel it coming, though. I already loved spending time with Gabe.
It wouldn't be long before that love eclipsed my worries and doubts about the future.
"Even the messy apartment?"
"My only complaint was when it wanted to murder you in your sleep. Now, it's perfect." I wasn't even exaggerating. He'd found a balance of eclectic art and bookish elegance I admired. It was still cramped, but our new house would have plenty of room for his books.
"What about my erratic sleep schedule, or my 'drop everything for my bestie' lifestyle?"
I hadn't experienced either yet, but, "I can sleep through almost anything," I said. "If I wake up missing you, I might curl up in your lap."
He squeezed my hand.
"Becca is always welcome to crash our plans," I continued. "And if Bruce hurts her, I'm on her side. I already told him so."
Gabe laughed, but sobered quickly. "You knew about the money."
"It wasn't my place to tell you."
"I know." He wrapped his other hand around mine, holding onto me like an anchor. "I hope our future disagreements are like that, too."
"Like what?"
"Quickly resolved. Becca was prepared to struggle financially for her entire married life, and now I'm super jealous of her.
She could have an art studio or gallery wherever she wants.
That's what we always said we would do if we won the lottery.
If Bruce is that well off, hers could come tomorrow as a wedding present. "
"They're not 'win the lottery' rich," I said. "Bruce really does have student loans he needs to pay back, but he's paying his family without interest."
"Oh." His voice was thick with disappointment. "Well, our dream is still on, then. One day, we'll have an art studio or a gallery together."
If I had my way, it would be sooner than he expected.