by Jill Haven
“You’d better get started, then,” Beau said with an impish tilt of his head. “Otherwise I’ll have to take care of this on my own.” It took him stroking his cock for my control to snap completely.
19
Beau
Watching Ace’s blue eyes go from just hungry to needing was an experience I never wanted to forget. While his hands were still roaming over my body, pressed up against him, there was a new urgency to them, like there wasn’t anything better he could be doing at the moment.
“You need to get naked.” I tugged at his shirt but he didn’t respond, his eyes skimming over me. I stood my ground. “Ace.”
The scold in my voice was apparently enough to get his attention because his head snapped up. “Sorry, what?”
“I want you naked, too,” I said firmly, holding his gaze. “I want to touch you.” He was hot, all dominant, but it would be even better with his skin naked against mine.
Ace stepped back and stripped off his clothes, tossing them across the room before his hands were back on my sides, tracing every inch of skin like he was mapping me out. “So gorgeous,” he murmured, making me shiver.
I reached out to touch him, too, feeling the muscles under his skin, the light dusting of chest hair. I loved the way he flexed under my touch, like his body couldn’t help but respond. A whimper burst past my control, and I was harder than I’d ever been in my life. I wanted him to take care of me. I wanted to be taken care of.
Oh, God. I wanted to trust him. I did trust him.
Before I could do anything else or say anything, he was kissing me, his lips crashing on mine and urging mine open. His tongue was teasing and possessive, licking my mouth like he belonged there, like it was only his. It made me dizzy, adrenaline surging through my veins as surely as the electricity was.
Ten minutes ago, I’d been talking to Haiden, aware of the uncomfortable ache that was present whenever Ace was gone. Now? Now, I felt whole again. Ace was there, and we were naked, and all was about to be right with the world.
“In bed,” Ace murmured, nudging me insistently.
“Not sure my legs work right,” I muttered, nearly tripping over myself. Ace pulled me close, nuzzling into my neck and sucking another hickey onto the overly sensitive skin. His hand went down to my cock, stroking it slowly, torturously, drawing moans out of me that I barely recognized.
He laid me down on the bed at the same time he crawled on top of me, our bodies twined together. I couldn’t stop the little thrusts of my hips, trying to get the friction that my body desperately craved. “Please,” I begged.
Ace did that deep purring thing against my neck as he rolled his body, sparking pleasure but not enough.
“Ace, please,” I gasped, struggling to stay coherent.
“Shh. I’ve got you.” Ace pressed another kiss to my skin before he started an assault on my body. He kissed down my jawline, then my neck, down to my nipples, taking one in his mouth and sucking on it until I cried out underneath him. I had never thought they were an erogenous zone until now.
“Fuck,” I whimpered, sliding a hand into the short hair at the nape of his neck, trying to hold him there but also move him to the other nipple.
Ace switched, the cool air hitting the slick skin just in time for him to graze his teeth across the other bud. I clutched harder at him, trying not to shout. He chuckled low, throatily, before using his body to pin mine. He teased and tormented my nipples until my cock was leaking, until tears were threatening to roll down my face.
I couldn’t even speak, brainless with want. Instead I just managed incoherent whimpers.
Ace licked his way up to my neck, and almost on instinct I tilted my head to the side so it was bared to him. He nipped lightly at the skin, making me shudder.
“Ace,” I whispered, suddenly knowing what I wanted him to do. “I want you to claim me.”
Whatever Ace had been focused on before, that caught his attention, bringing him to a complete stop. His breathing was ragged, his eyes wild as they bored into mine. “Beau, that’s not a decision to make in the heat—”
“I want you to,” I repeated, my confidence in the idea growing each time I said it out loud. “Please, Ace. I trust you. I love you.”
Ace stared at me for a second and then a groan ripped out of his chest like my words had physically pained him. “I’ve got you, babe,” he murmured, scraping his teeth over my chest as he worked down my torso. “I’ll make this good for you.”
I held my breath in anticipation of his mouth on my cock, but then he flipped me over like I weighed nothing, urging me up onto my hands and knees. Nerves prickled at the nape of my neck, excitement warring with nerves. Was he—
Ace parted my ass cheeks with his huge hands and then licked from my taint to the top of my crack in one smooth, torturous moment. I might have yelled. I probably begged. I may have even thanked him. It was like getting transported to nirvana.
I’d never been rimmed before, but oh, god, I didn’t think there was anything that made me needier than the teasing little kitten licks around the edge of my hole, just enough to make the muscle contract without giving me anything. On my hands and knees, I couldn’t get any friction from the bedcovers, so while I was pushing back against Ace’s mouth, my cock ached harder.
“God,” I managed, trying not to smother myself with the pillow. I canted my hips back so it was easier for him to reach, so he could do more, but all he continued to do were those small movements.
“Not quite,” Ace teased.
I reached back, trying to smack him even though I was sweaty and too sex-drunk to figure out where he was. “If you don’t fuck me right this second—”
As if he’d been waiting for me to crack, I felt his tongue stiffen and push inside the edges of my rim, the hot wetness making me sob. He didn’t stop, licking and kissing and sucking on my hole until I could feel it start to open underneath his ministrations.
When I thought the top of my head was going to explode, he slid a wet fingertip alongside his tongue. I hadn’t heard him get the lube, or open it, but he obviously had. “I’m going to make you feel so good,” Ace muttered, almost to himself. “Good thing they’re gone, because you’re going to scream my name.”
I wanted to make a retort, but along with the words, he slid the first finger all the way in, crooking it just right to make pleasure explode through my body when he hit my prostate. Whimpering, I fought to stay still as he started to add another finger, my balls drawn up tight and my body aching to come. But Ace seemed determine to drag it out, torture me until I screamed.
“So good, love,” Ace murmured, scraping his teeth over my cheek as he added a second slick finger, pushing them inside all the way and licking around my stretched rim.
I moaned incoherently and pushed back, not certain how much more I could take. He seemed to read me like a book, knowing exactly when I was too close to the edge and when he could take things a little bit further. Precum was dripping liberally from the head of my cock, starting to pool on the sheet underneath me, and I was desperate to rub my cock against something, anything, to get some friction.
Instinct told me to reach for my cock, but that same instinct told me Ace would stop me if I did, that things would be better if I was just patient.
“You’re so beautiful, Beau.” Ace kissed my hip, urging the third finger in. I winced at the burn, then let out a long breath, trying to get my body to relax, to allow his intrusion. I looked over my shoulder, desperate to see him, and what I saw sent a line of heat straight to my balls. His hair was a mess, his face wet with saliva from rimming, his stunning blue eyes laser-focused on his fingers buried in my ass.
In short, he looked hotter than I had ever seen him.
I pushed my face down into the pillow so I could move back against his fingers, trying to get them deeper. Every so often, just when I thought the pleasure had plateaued, he grazed my prostate, making my hips jerk and my cock leak another drop of precum. It was like I was dyin
g, but in the best way.
“On your back,” Ace said harshly, removing his fingers and flipping me over before I could even react to the words. His tone sent heat sizzling across my skin. It wasn’t mean, it was possessive, like Ace had me right where he wanted me and he needed me now, not in three seconds. The way his hands skimmed over my body felt the same way.
I whimpered, my hole clenching around nothing. If I didn’t get him inside me soon, I would die. I couldn’t speak, so I clung harder to him, trying to show him with my body.
“So beautiful.” Ace captured my lips with his and I lost myself in the kiss, feeling almost like I’d floated away from the world. If that was what sex would be like with Ace for the rest of our lives, sign me up.
“Deep breaths, love.” Ace nuzzled into my neck, soft little kisses that were a contrast to the rest of his body. At the same time, he was guiding his cock, tilting my hips up, putting my legs in the right position, teasing me with the bluntness but not pushing it in.
“I’ll breathe if you fuck me already,” I half-shouted. Deep breaths, my ass.
Well. Hopefully, literally.
Ace’s chuckle was deep and throaty, and when his teeth scraped over my jawline, they were sharper than before, sending sparks of pain-pleasure shooting down my spine and straight to my cock.
Taking a risk, I turned my head to the side, baring my neck for him. The nerves were gone, replaced by lust, need, and want. It felt like I would die if I didn’t get his mark, if he didn’t claim me.
He licked a spot with his rough, long tongue, right at the base of my neck, but there was hesitation there that was a contrast to the purposeful teasing he was doing with his cock. He brushed the mushroom head across my hole, letting it start to slide in before pulling back. I was about ready to scream at him or at myself. I wasn’t certain.
“Please,” I begged, the last vestiges of my self-control fading. “I’ll give you whatever you want, but please—”
In one smooth thrust, Ace’s fat cock slid inside me, splitting me open in the best way. I moaned, gripping onto his shoulders. It burned, but it didn’t hurt, and all the feeling did was accentuate the ones I was already feeling. He stayed where he was for a moment, letting me adjust.
“You,” he murmured as he held my gaze with his. “I want you.” Then he pulled his hips back and thrust into me, and I lost it. Every thrust sent lightning racing through my body and to my pelvis, and I was starting to shake with the intensity of it. Each time he grazed my prostate, I moaned, tilted more into that feeling. I felt like I was falling apart, like I was about to shatter into a million pieces and the only person keeping me together was the man on top of me.
“Oh, fuck, Beau…” Ace groaned and moved faster, still holding my gaze, although I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Then he pumped in-out-in and his knot started to swell. That was it for me.
“Ace!” I yelled as my vision went white, my body convulsing with each wave of my orgasm, coming harder than I ever had in my life. He was still moving in me, just a few more jerks before he stilled, his knot swelling just inside my rim as he filled me with his cum.
Then he was tenderly tilting my head to the side and biting down at the base of my neck. I whimpered at the razor-sharp teeth, at the brief burst of pain that immediately got mixed in with the pleasure of coming, of his hard, thick cock still inside me, the knot stretching me and pushing against me in the best way. Every time Ace rocked his hips, it grazed my sweet spot, sending another wave of heat through me. It was like coming in slow motion, and my brain was officially fried.
The spark of him that lived in my heart was radiating out, down my spine, down my limbs, until every single part of me felt his presence and was reassured by it. No matter what, Ace would be there. I could trust him. He would take care of me.
“…okay?” Ace’s words were slow and lazy.
I came back to Earth, finally, to the realization he’d been speaking to me. “What?” I slurred.
“Are you okay?” Ace had gently arranged us until he was spooning me and was now nosing at the bite mark on my neck. “I was rough.”
I tried to smirk, but I wasn’t certain my facial muscles worked well enough. “I told you I could handle it.”
“Mm,” Ace murmured, a long, wordless sound. Instead of speaking more, he wrapped his arms around me and drew me closer. Exhausted and sated from my orgasm, I closed my eyes and let myself drift into sleep.
I stared at the toilet like it had personally offended me and took a sip of the water bottle I had next to me. Nausea lurched in my stomach, and I closed my eyes and prayed to whatever deities existed for it to stay down. At that point, I would have done anything. It’d been two weeks since we had arrived, and all that had happened was that I was stuck in the house. Again. While Ten and Ace went out to do cool things. Again. Even worse, the lead was about my Dad.
The fact that I couldn’t last more than an hour without something triggering a wave of nausea wasn’t really relevant.
Just thinking about nausea made me retch, and I made it to the toilet just in time. Whatever it was that had me sick, I was going to kill whoever gave it to me. It was not fun. I had wanted to be there if they found my dad, but now I didn’t have a choice. While I’d tried to put my foot down and insist that I accompanied them, Ace had put his foot down back and then convinced me with some other…methods. My cheeks heated, want tempering the nausea for a few blissful moments. Even with the claiming bite, Ace was worried, and between that and the nausea, it was safer for me to stay—even if I didn’t want to.
“I thought I might find you here.” Haiden’s head poked in the door, his lips curved in a soft smile.
I stared at him, then shrugged. He could have probably smelled me. “Sorry—”
Then Haiden cut me off with a happy sigh. “I remember the beginning stages of my pregnancy, and I prayed to the porcelain God for many days. I might have—”
“What?” I hadn’t heard my voice hit that high of a register since before puberty, but it had.
Haiden blinked at me, then his expression shifted to understanding. “It’ll be okay,” he said firmly, sounding more reassuring than I would have thought he could. For a small, five-foot-not-much man, he could put me at ease. Mostly.
I let out a strangled groan, carefully easing back onto my butt and sitting cross-legged next to the toilet. If that was what it was, I didn’t expect to leave the bathroom anytime soon. How long did dragon pregnancies last, anyway?
“I’ll go get you a test.” Haiden moved into the bathroom enough to squeeze my shoulder, comforting. “I’ll bring you some mints, that helped me.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, shock still rooting me to the spot. My brain was spinning like a hamster in a wheel. Pregnant? Pregnancy had gone from being theoretical to possibly real, and I wasn’t coping very well. My legs weren’t working and I was fairly certain if I stood, they would collapse out from underneath me. Everything told me I was safer just sitting on the floor, so on the floor I sat.
“Here.” Haiden handed me a box and a bag. The box was the pregnancy test, the bag some type of lozenges that claimed to be good for nausea. “Go slow with the lozenges. They can be pretty strong,” he warned.
“Okay.” The words fell from numb lips and I handled the box like it was a bomb about to explode. It was a regular one for women, but apparently functioned the same for omegas. Go figure.
Haiden crouched down next to me, putting his hands on my shoulders until I looked up at him. “You’ll be okay,” he said firmly. “Everything will be okay.” Then he stood and left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
I sat there on the floor, staring at the pregnancy test for at least an hour, trying to summon up the courage. Then once I peed on a stick, there was more waiting to do. Whoever designed those things had torture in mind, that was for sure.
My thoughts drifted, desperate to distract me from the stick sitting on the side of the tub. I still couldn’t stand without getting queasy
, so it had to be close. What was Ace doing? Did he think about me? I absently rubbed my chest, the ache more pronounced with him so far away.
The timer going off jolted me out of my thoughts. My heart thundered so badly I could hear it, and my hand shook as I reached for it. It was another ten minutes before I could pull it close enough that I could see.
My stomach twisted and soared at the same time.
Positive.
We were going to be parents.
20
Ace
While Bishop and Carlisle had mentioned how bad it was to be away from your mate, neither of their explanations quite matched up with reality. It was like there was a hole in my chest, like a vital part of me was missing, even if I knew that Beau was safest back with the Princeps Draco. I wanted to be the one protecting him, looking after him. And in a way, I was. It just wasn’t by being near him at the moment.
“There’s a lot of dust on the windows,” Ten murmured, his hand on the knife on his belt.
“Maybe he hasn’t been home in a while?” I tried not to think too hard about it. If he wasn’t there, we were running out of leads for Harland.
The moment we moved out of the cover of the forest, floodlights hit us dead-on, nearly blinding us. I jerked an arm up to protect my eyes.
“I’m not here to harm anyone! I’ve come to talk about Beau and how he’s in danger. I’m his mate, and I’m here because I need answers to keep him safe.” I shouted the whole speech in one breath, crouched down so I could protect myself if I needed to, but hoping against all reason that what I said would get across to whoever was trying to blind us.
The lights dimmed, which made fireworks explode behind my eyelids as my human eyes struggled to adjust. When I finally could see again, there was a man on the porch. His arms were crossed over his chest, his stance wide and strong.
