33. Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Abby
I’d slept in a lot of strange places over the last three months so it shouldn’t have startled me to wake in a crumpled cocoon of black sheets. Maybe it was the light pouring through the floor to ceiling window—I still hadn’t gotten over the feeling of being watched, even if the window faced the Puget Sound—or the smell of bacon grease and cinnamon permeating the air that threw me off.
This wasn’t my new apartment.
I unrolled myself from my sheet bindings, pausing for a languorous stretch. Under other circumstances, I might have let my confusion send me scrambling from the bed in search of clothes. Now, even as I slowly came to recognize the bedroom around me, I was unconcerned. Wherever I was, Gage was nearby.
I planted a palm over my chest, feeling the thrum of my heart, and the twin pulse of this unbelievable living thing. The bond. A connection I could only have dreamed of before last night.
That all too familiar ping went off in my chest, only this time it was more of a tug. Someone pulling at the leash around my heart.
I jumped out of bed, only wincing slightly at the stiffness in literally all my muscles and rifled through the closest drawer until I found a t-shirt. It hung down to my thighs which was a welcome cover as my insecurities came to light with the morning sun.
Or was it afternoon?
Gage leaned up against the counter in his kitchen, shirtless, in grey sweatpants, and smiling innocently like that combo didn’t give me the sexiest aneurysm. I traced the hem of his sweatpants with my gaze, but it was the smile that snagged my attention and held it.
He had an unexpectedly sweet smile. Crinkling eyes, round cheeks, and a hint of the same dimple that gave his brother that pretty boy charm. I froze there, the black granite separating us, staring at him with a sudden, overwhelming uncertainty.
The bond pinged again, more insistently, and I widened my eyes at him as a flare of dominance filled the room. This wasn’t a request anymore. It was a demand. How did I feel about him making demands outside of the bedroom?
It wasn’t like this was new. Dominant shifters were bossy as hell.
“Don’t be shy. I won’t bite.”
I rubbed the raw mark on my neck. “I don’t think that’s entirely truthful.”
A glimmer of the heat from last night burned through his eyes and I pulled nervously at the shirt that seemed far too short now. Even so, I surrendered to the pull of the bond, coming around the corner and gasping. “Are we expecting company?”
There were half a dozen plates piled high with food. Sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, eggs, both scrambled and fried. Another plate was filled with waffles. Not store-bought freezer waffles but freshly made waffles. The iron was still plugged in, stray bits of batter flecking the counter.
Gage rubbed the back of his neck, expression shifting from cocky to bashful. “I thought you would be hungry after last night.”
“This is enough breakfast for the entire week.”
“I need to feed you. It’s a compulsion.”
I chewed my lip, trying not to laugh. “Is that why all the candy bars and peeled oranges appeared on my desk?”
He crossed his arms. “No mate of mine is going to walk around the office, fainting all over the place because she’s hungry.”
I schooled my features before my reaction could show, realizing too late that he would know exactly what I felt in response to those words. With careful calm I pushed aside a massive plate of waffles and hefted myself onto the counter.
Be cool, Abby.
“Mate, huh?”
That serious scowl returned to his face for the first time since he carried me through the parking garage last night. “You regret it, don’t you?”
“No! No, I don’t regret it.” I shifted my hips, readjusting the shirt to cover more of my bare assets. “It’s just…it feels kind of like waking up after getting married in Vegas.”
He scowled harder.
“We know each other at work. Until last night,” I cleared my throat, “we didn’t know each other.”
“We kissed at your apartment. You slept here for like three weeks. I rubbed my scent all over you constantly.”
“See, there needs to be some kind of guidebook for humans dating shifters because that last one doesn’t scream romance to me, and none of those are the usual milestones that say, ‘we’re going steady.’”
“We aren’t dating, Abigail.” He planted his hands on either side of my thighs.
“You’re my mate. We belong to each other. I’ll never live another day without you, and when I fall asleep every night, it will be with you safely in my arms. There’s nothing casual about this.” A rumble started in his chest, and I couldn’t help but press myself closer.
“Now that? That’s definitely romantic.” How was it possible that he took me at every angle last night, for hours, and yet his nearness made me breathy and flustered.
“What do you need to be happy?”
“I am happy!” I put my hands on his shoulders, gliding them down his bare back. He softened, pressing his forehead to mine, and letting me wrap my legs around his waist. “And I’m also a little overwhelmed. There’s a lot we haven’t talked about…”
“Like what?”
“Like—” I inhaled for bravery. “Like what about my apartment? I just signed the lease a week ago!”
“So, I’ll pay the lease off and move your stuff here.”
I tensed. “What would you do if I don’t want to live here?”
Gage shrugged. “Your apartment has shitty security, and your neighbors are definitely selling drugs, but if you’re so attached to that matchbox we can live there until your lease is up.”
“You want to live with me without getting to know each other better?”
“There’s no point in getting to know each other better. The outcome is the same. No takebacks, remember?”
I pinched off the corner of a waffle, chewing to give myself a minute to think. Somehow I was getting more vague emotions from Gage than I was sure I was sending, and I couldn’t figure out how he was doing it.
“Okay. Fine. Your apartment is way better than mine. But what about money? I should pay off my lease. It’s not your responsibility.”
“I really wish I’d taken the time to explain this to you first.” Gage chuckled. “Abby, you are my responsibility. All of you. If you told me that you never wanted to work again and expected to live the lifestyle of a queen, then I would make it happen. A male wolf has two purposes: Protect his pack and provide for his mate.”
“But—“ I started waving my hands, trying to articulate the anxiety that was ballooning inside me. “What am I bringing to the table then? If you don’t want me to contribute financially, and you’re not expecting me to stay home to cook and clean, what then? Obviously it’s not just for sex—don’t get me wrong, the sex is great. So great. But look at you! You could have sex with anyone you wanted and I—"
Gage covered my mouth with his hand. “What the fuck? Where is this coming from?”
I plucked at another piece of waffle, squishing the fluffy edges, and watching it rise back up.
“That’s how he treated you,” he said coolly.
“I don’t want you to think that I’m thinking about my ex-husband because I’m not. It’s just that all my previous relationship experience came from my marriage, and it feels like the rules have changed all of a sudden.”
“The rules have fucking changed.” He held up a finger. “Rule number one: You don’t have to bring anything to the table but yourself. You are the meal. Everything else is just a bonus. Dessert.” He smirked.
“But—"
A second finger came up. “Rule number two: There are no quid pro quos between us.”
“Wait, you can’t just—”
He held three fingers up. “Rule number three: Don’t argue with me, Abigail.”
“I’m going to break that one.”
“No,” his hand skated up my thigh, “I don’t think you are. You’re a very obedient mate.”
I removed his hand from my leg and put it back on the counter, eyes narrowed. “You can’t just use your dominance mojo on me.”
“I can.”
“Rule number four!” I shoved four fingers in his face. “We’re a team. We don’t tell each other what to do. We ask.”
Gage grumbled under his breath, and through the bond I got something that felt like competitiveness. “I’m an alpha wolf. Sometimes I’m going to tell you what to do. It’s in my nature.”
I patted his chest. “We’ll work on that.”
He stooped to bite the waffle from between my fingers, his teeth grazing my skin. “What else?”
I wrung my hands together to keep from running them down his stomach. His nearness made me woozy. “What about kids?”
“Kids are fine.”
“Okay, I’m kind of freaking out about that answer because ‘fine’ isn’t what you say about a lifelong commitment. ‘Fine’ isn’t the proper response to literally creating a new person! I really want kids, Gage.” Our eyes locked and I let him see every vulnerable part of the admission. “I always thought I would be a mom before I turned thirty.”
“You’ve got three years. That’s plenty of time.”
“It’s not that much time.”
Gage swallowed and I could feel his hesitation pulling the bond taut. “I’m terrified to have kids. What if I fuck them up? I’m kind of fucked up. It wouldn’t be that hard.”
I couldn’t hold in my laughter. “Everyone is afraid they’ll mess their kids up.”
“I don’t think my parents were ever afraid of that.”
“I can guarantee they were. They still are.”
He exhaled sharply. “How many kids do you want?”
“Like eight. Too many. I’ll need to drive a bus to take them all grocery shopping.”
He curled his arms tightly around me, pressing his chin to my forehead. “We’re going to have to move to Alaska. I can’t raise eight shifter kids in the city.”
“Who says they’ll be shifters?”
Gage pulled away, face impassive. “Would it be a problem if they were?”
“Of course not, though I wouldn’t know the first thing about raising a shifter…”
“They will be shifters, Abby. All of them,” he explained. “Fated mates always pass on the shifter gene.”
“Oh.” I smiled, tugging him back to me for a quick kiss. “Then we’ll definitely have to move to Alaska.”
That quick kiss turned into a series of kisses, unhurried and sweet, in total contrast with the mating fever the night before. Despite the gentleness, I was still breathless when he broke away.
“Careful,” I panted. “You’re making me hungry for something other than breakfast.”
“Show me.”
I slid from the counter, my hands gliding over his exposed stomach. My legs folded underneath me, my knees hitting the cold tile.
Gage still had his hands propped on the counter, leaning over me as I slipped his sweatpants down his hips. He was hard, blue veins spiraling to the tip of his cock. When I opened my mouth, blowing a hot breath onto him, he shuddered.
He was strong, dominant, and dangerous. But here? I had all the power.
I was into it.
I started slow, licking around the tip of him and brushing my lips over his velvety skin. Gage held statue still, head down as he watched me. I flicked my eyes to his, keeping contact while I sucked him between my lips.
“God fucking damn, Abigail,” he growled.
I took him deeper, sliding as far as I could go. He was big, big enough that I was only halfway there and gagging. I willed my throat open, slanting forward, swallowing as much as I could.
His legs shook with tension, and I realized he was forcing himself to be still.
I withdrew my mouth from him, running my tongue along my lips and murmuring, “Don’t hold yourself back for me.”
That quickly his hand was in my hair, guiding his cock back into my mouth as far as it could go. I grabbed his hips, holding on as he thrust again. My eyes were watering, my jaw tight, but it was nothing compared to the thrum between my legs.
Making Gage lose control was a big turn on. Feeling Gage lose control through the bond, giving in completely to his desire made my legs weak with need.
He pulled away, releasing my mouth as I took panting breaths. Then he was thrusting again, filling my throat, groaning deep in his.
I gasped the next time he pulled out, my head spinning as I was suddenly lifted from the floor. My stomach hit the counter, my legs spread as Gage speared into me from behind.
“Fuck, that made you wet,” he said against my ear.
I didn’t have the brain cells to respond. Pleasure rippled down the bond, his and mine. I’d never experienced anything like it before, nothing that came close to this sensation, and it was overwhelming.
Consuming.
“Touch yourself,” Gage commanded.
“W-what?”
He took one of my hands from where it was holding me steady on the counter, pushing it between my legs. His hips had slowed, each thrust shallower than before. Why was he stopping?
“Rule number five,” he purred, pressing my hand against my clit, “I don’t finish until you finish.”
It wasn’t my finger circling my clit that sent me over the edge. It was his voice, vibrating into me.
“Gage!” I screamed it, my body squeezing around him so tight I could feel every ridge of his veins. That same moment he crashed into me, burying himself, holding me flush against him and panting.
“You’re perfect,” he whispered, brushing the hair from my neck to kiss the fresh mark.
And he meant it. I could feel the absolute sincerity of his words. Feel it.
This was going to take some getting used to.
“Now,” I turned in his arms, resting my lower back against the counter, “you can feed me.”
His lips twitched and a moment later he was holding a piece of bacon in front of me. I took a bite, my eyes never leaving his. He slid the rest into his mouth.
Gage offered another bite, a strawberry this time. I bit into it, juice dripping from the corner of my lip. He lapped it up before it hit my chin.
I had a feeling we weren’t going to sit down for a meal right now.
He kept feeding me, watching intently as I took every bite. I was finishing off another piece of bacon, about to lick the grease from his fingers when his cell phone began to ring.
“Ignore it,” I told him.
The only person that would be calling him on a Sunday was Levi, and unless someone died—highly unlikely—then he could wait. Not just because I wanted to continue having the hottest sex of my life until my legs gave out, but because I was still very angry with him, and this perfect morning would be ruined if Gage took his side.
Gage bit his lip, glancing at the phone with indecision.
“Gage,” I said sharply, “do not answer that phone. We quit.”
“We do not quit. ”
“Yes, we do. We’ll start our own firm.”
He gave me an exasperated look. “You’re mad at my brother?”
“I’m mad at everyone,” I said primly. “Even you.”
“Well, I guess that’s deserved.”
“It is,” I agreed, watching as the screen on his phone went black again.
“You’re right,” he sighed. “No calls. No work. Now, where were we?”
The phone rang again. Gage looked genuinely distraught.
“I thought you said we were supposed to spend weeks alone. Maybe we should go to the cabin,” I suggested, a little desperately. I was still angry with Gage—and all of them—and if we left this new-bond-mind-control-bliss for even a few minutes, those feelings would come rushing to the surface.
I didn’t want to deal with them yet. I wanted to keep having breakfast sex and being totally ignorant to the rest of the world.
“That’s a good idea,” he said absently, drumming his fingers on his chest.
“You have to answer it, don’t you?”
“He’s my alpha, and he knows better than to call me the day after I complete a bond. He’s not calling to check up on me.”
“Fine,” I nodded.
With a relieved sigh Gage swiped his hands on a nearby kitchen rag, snatching the phone up and snapping, “What?”
Levi’s voice murmured through the phone, too low for me to understand what he was saying. Whatever it was, Gage didn’t look happy.
“We’re supposed to be taking some time off.” Guess that cat was officially out of the bag. Was I really the only one in the dark?
Betrayal stabbed at me, leaving a fresh wound. I understood why Gage didn’t tell me, even if I was unhappy about it. But Gage was going to spend the rest of his life groveling and giving me everything I wanted to make up for it—his words, not mine. As for the guys? They were my friends and friends were supposed to have my back. Some kind of hint, warning, anything would have made a difference.
I spent the last three months feeling increasingly insane, and I didn’t understand why. Someone should have told me.
Gage had the phone to his ear, but I could tell he wasn’t listening. His gaze lingered on my face, studying every line, scrutinizing the emotion he was getting glimpses of through the bond.
This was going to be hard. It was one thing to have good communication and share your feelings with your partner. Giving them unfettered access to your emotions twenty-four hours a day didn’t leave room to let anything stew.
“Wait, what?” His attention cut back to his phone call as his eyes widened. “Why?”
I slanted my head, trying to steal some of his shifter hearing to understand what was so important that Levi had to interrupt our post-mating brunch.
“That’s bullshit. Yes, I know it’s my rule, but it’s still bullshit.” Gage threw his head back and growled. “We’ll be there in an hour.”