Chapter Twenty-Five
“Tell me again,” Redford murmured against Damon’s throat, his hands sliding up bare skin. “Tell me you want this.”
Damon caught those wandering hands, pinning them against the mattress as he covered Redford’s body with his own. “I want everything with you. A child. A family. Years and years of mornings waking up in the shadow of the castle we’ve made ours.”
“Our castle.”
“Ours.” Damon kissed him slowly, pouring everything he felt through their bond.
His love, his pride, and the passion he had for his mate, that burned alongside the fierce, protective instinct his hound had recognized from the beginning - the knowledge that Redford belonged to him, with him, forever.
Redford arched beneath him, already hard and wanting. The bond thrummed between them, desire from both sides meeting and swamping each other, until it was impossible to tell where it came from.
“I’ve been thinking about this for days,” Redford admitted, his voice rough. “Watching Warner with Kolton and Simon and imagining what our child would look like. Would they have your eyes? My wings?”
“Maybe both.” Damon shifted down Redford’s body, trailing kisses across collarbones and ribs. “Maybe they’ll be as stubborn as you and as reckless as me.”
“That child would be unstoppable.”
“Just like their fathers.” Damon circled one nipple with his tongue, savoring Redford’s sharp intake of breath. “You’re going to be incredible at this. You already are. You show it every time you hold Warner, and in the caring way you protect Finn and Kara. The way you love me.”
Redford’s hands tangled in Damon’s hair. “Don’t make me cry before we’ve even started.”
“Too late.” Damon glanced up, catching the sheen of moisture in Redford’s dark eyes. “I can feel what you’re feeling, remember? All that hope. All that want.”
“Then you know how much I need you now.”
Damon resumed his downward path, mapping every plane of muscle with lips, teeth, and tongue. Redford pushed his legs wider apart as Damon settled between them, and the complete trust in that gesture made Damon’s chest ache.
“I know you’ve waited a long time,” Damon said softly, looking up at Redford’s flushed face. “Five hundred years you felt you were all alone. But you’re not alone anymore, and you never will be again.”
He took Redford into his mouth without warning, swallowing him down in one smooth motion.
Redford shouted, his hips jerking off the bed, but Damon held him steady and worked at bringing his precious mate pleasure.
They’d made love dozens of times since the claiming, but this time felt different.
This time when they came together, they were doing it with intention.
“Damon, wait…” Redford gasped, pulling at his hair. “I’m already too close…”
Damon pulled off with a wet pop. “That was the goal,” he grinned. “No point in doing this if it’s not fun.”
He reached for the oil on the nightstand, coating his fingers while Redford watched with dilated pupils.
The first press inside made Redford groan, and Damon took his time opening him up, working him loose while occasionally dipping down to lick and suck Redford’s dick, just often enough to keep him teetering on the edge.
“More,” Redford demanded far too soon. “I need more.”
“Soon,” Damon promised as he added another finger, crooking them to brush Redford’s prostate. Redford’s back bowed off the mattress, and through the bond Damon felt the spike of pleasure and the overwhelming need. “That’s it, Red. Show me how much you want this.”
“I always want you.” Redford was riding his fingers now, shameless and beautiful in his passion. “Every day and every night. I want to build our life together, and raise our child in the castle that chose us.”
Damon’s hound rumbled deep in his chest. He withdrew his fingers, ignoring Redford’s sound of protest as he slicked up his own heavy cock that was already leaking. “Ready?”
“I was ready ten minutes ago.”
The first push inside stole both their breaths. Damon went slow despite the instinct screaming at him to thrust deep and claim his mate hard. He knew he had to wait, letting Redford adjust to the stretch. Their bond opened wide between them, Damon felt Redford’s sensations as if they were his own.
“Move,” Redford urged, wrapping his legs around Damon’s waist. “Please move.”
Damon pulled nearly all the way out before sliding back in, quickly setting up a rhythm that had Redford cursing and clutching at his shoulders.
Each stroke seemed to drive deeper, and Redford pushed back to meet him eagerly, completely wild with desire.
Sweat slicked their skin as they moved together, the bed frame creaking rhythmically beneath them.
“Harder,” Redford gasped. “Don’t hold back… I need…”
Damon shifted the angle and drove in deep, hitting Redford’s prostate dead-on.
Redford shouted, head thrown back against the pillows, and Damon did it again.
And again. His hound surged beneath his skin, recognizing the significance of what they were doing.
Magic crackled through the air around them, but Damon was completely focused on his ruggedly sexy mate.
“I love you,” Damon said fiercely, punctuating each word with a thrust. “Love you so damn much. I want to see you round with our child and watch you be a father. I want forever with you.”
“You have it.” Redford pulled him down into a bruising kiss. Forever. Always. I’m yours.
The bond between them blazed brighter as their intention crystallized into reality. Redford’s nails scored down his back as the sensation overwhelmed them both.
“Close,” Redford warned unnecessarily. Damon could feel him trembling on the edge. “Can’t…going to…”
“Together,” Damon managed, reaching between them to stroke Redford in time with his thrusts. “Come with me.”
Redford came with Damon’s name on his lips, clenching down hard around him. The sensation pushed Damon over the edge, and he buried himself deep as his release pulsed through him.
They collapsed together in a sweaty heap, hearts pounding in sync. Damon managed to pull out carefully and roll them onto their sides, tucking Redford against his chest. Their bond hummed contentedly between them, satisfied.
“Did it work?” Redford asked after their breathing slowed.
“I’m guessing we won’t know for a couple of weeks.” Damon pressed a kiss to his temple. “But my hound seems pretty smug about it.”
“My gargoyle is purring.” Redford’s laugh rumbled against Damon’s chest. “Actually purring. I didn’t know we could do that.”
“You do when you’re happy.” Damon tangled their legs together, not ready to let even an inch of space come between them. “Really happy.”
“I am.” Redford’s voice went soft. “Happier than I ever thought possible. Even when I dreamed of finding my mate, I never imagined it would feel like this.”
“The castle brought you here and brought us together.” Damon glanced toward the door, sensing the gentle warmth of Duncarrick’s consciousness hovering nearby. “Do you think it knew what we’d become?”
“Maybe. Or maybe it just recognized that we belonged here.” Redford yawned, burrowing deeper into Damon’s embrace. “Belonged together.”
Damon held him as his breathing evened out into sleep, marveling at how completely his life had changed.
At least I know now why my hound was always a jittery mess anytime we weren’t here, he thought, thinking about his time away when he’d been helping Giorgio and Enda.
Somehow, even though it wasn’t possible, his hound knew, and because of that Damon had a mate, a sanctuary to protect, and maybe – just maybe – a baby on the way.
“Love you,” Damon whispered into Redford’s dark hair, even though his mate was already asleep. “I love you so much.”
/~/~/~/~/
Two weeks later, Damon woke to an unfamiliar sensation thrumming through the bond. There was a new warmth, centered under Redford’s heart – a tiny sun had taken up residence in his chest.
Damon’s eyes flew open. Redford was already awake beside him, one hand pressed flat against his sternum, and a look of quiet shock on his face.
“Do you feel that?” Redford whispered.
“Yep.” Damon covered Redford’s hand with his own, and the warmth pulsed brighter in acknowledgment. “Is that…?”
“An egg.” Redford’s voice broke. “There’s an egg forming. Our egg. We’re going to be fathers.”
Joy exploded through their bond so powerfully it stole Damon’s breath. He pulled Redford close, feeling the gentle heat of new life between them.
“Yes.” Damon kissed him softly. “I do believe we are.”
“Should we tell the pack?” Redford asked.
“They’ll know soon enough.” Damon could already feel his brothers’ curiosity through the pack link, but then it wasn’t every day he’d woken up and realized he was going to be a daddy.
Some of those feelings were going to leak through the link.
“Lamont’s going to be insufferable about it. He’ll claim he called it first.”
“Did he?”
“Maybe. Honestly can’t remember, but I’m not admitting it.” Damon grinned against Redford’s shoulder. “How are you feeling? Any difference besides the warmth?”
“I’m hungry, like really hungry.” Redford paused. “And stupidly emotional about how perfect all this is. We’ve got everything. Our castle, our sanctuary, and now our little family is growing, too.”
“That’s not stupid, Red.” Damon tightened his arms around him. “That’s perfect, just like you.”
And in Damon’s head, it really was.