Chapter 35
“They loved you.” I curled up next to Sidney on the couch after everyone went home.
“You think so?”
“Well, my mom is over the moon, Meg whispered to me that you were great, and Luna was chill by the end of the night, so I can only assume.”
Mom had been up my butt to finally bring someone home for a couple years already. Showing up with someone who had a successful and steady job, looked like he was straight out of a magazine, and came with a permanent commitment was like all her dreams come true. Meg had seemed happy with him, and I knew Luna would continue to warm up the more he proved he was good for me.
“I’m nervous to meet your family now.”
“They’ll be easy. I think, anyway. I told them I was bringing you, but I didn’t tell them yet that we were mated.”
“Why not?” I asked, sprawling backward across his lap so he could cradle me and I could see his face better.
“I can tell them if you want me to. I just thought it might be less pressure this way.”
“But what if they don’t like me?”
Sidney booped me on the nose. “Then they’ll get over it. You’re my bondmate, and they’ll love you or they’re going to see me a lot less. Being kind to you is not an option.”
Affection swirled through the bond. I tugged him down for a kiss and rotated so I could straddle him, pressing us chest to chest. “Do you really think we can make this work?”
“I think the odds are stacked in our favor. If we both want it to work, I’d say we’ve got a good shot.”
I kissed him softly, cradling his cheeks in my hands. “I want it to work.”
His hands on my back pressed me closer. “Me too. I want to get along with your friends, for them to like me.”
“They totally do.”
“I don’t think Luna likes me very much.”
“Luna doesn’t like a lot of people, and for good reason. She’ll definitely warm up to you, though.”
“I certainly hope so.”
“I’ll give you all A’s on the relationship report card whenever she asks.”
“Only if I’ve actually earned them,” he insisted. He swept his hands over my back and tangled his fingers in my hair. “If I don’t live up to expectations, I hope you’ll tell me.”
“I mean, same. I have no idea how to be a bondmate. I wasn’t even planning on being a wife for a while.”
Sidney kissed me softly and I tingled all the way down to my toes. “I promise you’re doing just fine.”
It was so easy to be distracted by him. I couldn’t get enough of touching him, and he seemed more than happy to let me get my fill. Plenty more important things about a relationship still had to be figured out, but damn if I wasn’t enjoying how compatible we were at the physical part of things.
“Do you want to redecorate?” he asked when I finally took a breath and snuggled against his chest.
“I like your place.”
“But I want it to feel like our place. If there’s something you want to change to feel more at home, you can do it.”
“See, you’re saying that, but that’s because you’ve never seen me try to paint anything before. You’ve got good taste with the cozy colors. At most I would buy some cute decorations.”
“What about a nest?”
“What about one?”
“Do you wanna make one over here?”
I wiggled around on his lap so I could stare down the hallway toward the second bedroom he had designated as mine. “I would have to buy new stuff for it. I don’t want to split up my current nest.”
His dark eyes were full of such quiet indulgence it almost undid me. “Keep your nest how it is. I’ll take you shopping to outfit one here. Bring the girls if you’d like. I’ll buy them each something too.”
“This is the best form of bribery you could’ve thought of.” I snickered and dove in for another kiss. “Luna will never say no to something soft. I don’t know about Meg.”
“You don’t think alphas can appreciate soft things?”
“I’m sure you can; you’re just not known for it. She’ll appreciate the offer either way. Would this be before or after I’m inducted into the Marino clan?”
“Your choice. I have a regular schedule for the most part, so coordinate with your girls.”
I snuggled up even tighter. “Is it too early for you to take me to bed?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s never too early for that.”
I cackled as he scooped me up, carted me off to the bedroom, and laid me out on the blankets. “Clothes off. I need you to be a lot more naked than you are.”
“Your wish is my command.” Sidney stripped down and sank to his knees, dragging me to the edge of the bed where he propped my knees on his shoulders and buried his face between my thighs. I arched off the bed with a curse and laced my fingers tightly in his hair, bucking and whining against his questing tongue.
If he wanted to be a devotee at my altar, I certainly wasn’t going to dissuade him of that. He held me fast, no matter how much I shook and squirmed, breathing his name in reverence while at the same time cursing it. I tugged down the straps of my dress and folded my bra cups over, teasing my nipples with tight rolls as Sidney ate me out until I saw god.
I lay delirious on his bed, staring up at the popcorn stucco, my pussy aching to be filled, my clit tingling from all of the attention he’d given it.
“More,” I croaked. My throat was like the goddamn Kalahari from all of my panting.
I squeaked as he flipped me over and lifted my hips, gliding his cock into my cunt while I whimpered. He cradled my throat with one hand and set a wicked pace. Yes, we could figure anything else out, because there was no fucking way I could go back to a life where I didn’t have his hands on me.
“That’s it, kitten,” he crooned. “Taking me like such a good girl.” He groaned at the squeeze of my pussy in response to his words.
I bowed deeper, clenching my fingers onto the blankets, offering my submission as he rode me until I was breathless and shivering, each thrust like a sparkler going off in my cunt. My body quaked as I came, riding that wave until he finally came himself, slamming his hips home and holding mine pressed to him as heat bloomed in my depths.
I slumped down, utterly spent and satisfied, prompting him to fold over me, the warm weight of him covering my back. I couldn’t help but remember the last time we’d been in this position, the last time after my first heat before four years had separated us, when he’d tried to convince me that I would be able to be with other people. I had done it, but it had never been the same. Now all those pieces that never quite fit clicked into place. I never wanted to touch anyone else ever again.