by EE Silver
King grinned triumphantly and scrambled off Jonah barely long enough for the both of them to get naked, and then he took up his spot again. “I like you like this,” he purred, tracing random whorls through the hair on Jonah’s chest.
“Naked?” Jonah cocked an eyebrow at him.
He shook his head. “At my mercy.”
Jonah laughed. “Control freak,” he teased, and somehow it sounded like an endearment coming from Jonah. King didn’t even mind when Jonah grabbed him by the waist and flipped them, pinning King flat on his back. He kissed King’s throat, pausing to suck gently under his jaw. “I hope you’ll still let me have a little fun.”
“By all means,” King said breathlessly, tipping his head back to make room. “Have your wicked way with me.”
“That was the plan,” Jonah murmured, and slid lower, sucking and biting his way down to King’s chest. “I’ve wanted to taste you all over for weeks.”
“I wanted you to do it about 30 seconds after we met,” King gasped, twisting to push his chest closer as bolts of electricity shot through him when Jonah scraped his teeth over a nipple. “Fuck, do that again.”
Jonah did as ordered, and then grinned up at him. “I have more tricks up my metaphorical sleeve, but I can stay here if you want,” he said, making King groan in complaint.
“Gods, just shut up and claim me,” he said, spreading his legs invitingly. “I’ve been thinking about you in me for so long. Making me wait is just cruel.”
“I’d never hurt you, baby,” Jonah said, and King might have sassed something in response, but then Jonah moved lower, low enough to grab King’s cock in his hand and lick slowly up the entire length. King had already been most of the way to hard before that, but in an instant he was fully hard and desperate.
“Good start,” he gasped, lifting his hips invitingly.
“Glad you approve,” Jonah said, and King might have objected to the way Jonah was clearly laughing at him, but then Jonah sucked his length down in one long, expert swallow, and every thought King had ever had vanished. All he needed was here and now, the man between his legs hell-bent on driving him insane. Anything else would have been a waste of time.
When Jonah’s hands cradled King’s ass, squeezing him as he swallowed around King’s length and began to bob slowly up and down just slow enough it would never be enough to give him what he wanted, King couldn’t help but groan. He threaded his fingers in Jonah’s hair, clutching the silky strands. “More,” he gasped. “Need you in me.”
Without pausing in his slow suction, Jonah obeyed, slipping one finger between his cheeks, toying with the slick already leaking out of King’s eager body. When Jonah’s touch grazed over King’s asshole, testing his opening with frustrating tenderness, King hissed in anticipation. It had been a long time, and never with someone like Jonah before. Never with someone he loved.
“Not made of glass,” he managed. “Put your fingers in me and stretch me out so I can take that cock of yours, knot and all.”
Jonah lifted his head, releasing King with an obscene slurp. “If you can still be this romantic, I’m clearly not doing a good enough job,” he said, and pushed two fingers into King at once, the sudden intrusion driving the air out of Kin’s lungs as he bucked up then back down, forcing Jonah’s fingers deeper. It felt good, so good, to have part of Jonah inside him at last, but it still wasn’t enough. King’s hands clutched at Jonah’s shoulders, asking for more when words refused to come.
Fortunately, Jonah seemed to understand what he needed, and he pushed another finger in, opening King wider. “I’ve dreamed about fucking you,” Jonah admitted between pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses to King’s hip. “About claiming you, mating you.”
King could only nod in agreement, crying out when Jonah sucked his cock down again. Pleasure swamped him, washing over him again and again, and King tasted blood when he bit his lower lip to hold back from the orgasm building far too quickly. Any other time, he’d have been perfectly happy to get off right away and find ways to make it up to his lover, but this time was important, and he needed to keep it special. He tugged on Jonah’s hair, a little harder than necessary, but it was important. “Not yet,” he gasped when Jonah looked up at him in confusion. “Please, not yet.”
Jonah shushed him, crawling up King’s body but not stopping the steady fucking of his fingers in and out of King. “I’ve got you,” he murmured, kissing King’s chest, neck, and cheeks with wet and swollen lips. “Tell me what you need, King. Let me give you everything.”
“You,” King panted, pulling Jonah into a sloppy kiss. “I need you to fuck me, right now.”
“Yes,” Jonah whispered against his mouth. He pulled his fingers free, and the only thing that kept King from complaining about the sudden empty feeling was the eager way Jonah knelt between his legs, lifting King’s hips and lining his cock up, pushing once.
But he didn’t keep going, and King lifted his head, glaring at this lover. “What’s wrong? Need an instruction manual?”
Jonah huffed. “No, but I need a condom. I don’t suppose you have any divine magic that means I won’t have to let go of you to get one?”
“Damn it.” King stretched as far as he could, reaching for the pack he’d stashed in the nightstand. Finally victorious, he dumped the contents of the box on the bed beside them. “Here.”
But King was out of patience, so he sat up and opened a condom, pinching the tip to roll it down Jonah’s length himself. He’d bought it from a shifter-friendly store in town, knowing that alpha orgasms were notorious for tearing through normal human condoms. After all, King wasn’t quite sure if he was ready to give up his figure for a baby. Even if the idea of having Jonah’s baby made liquid heat pool low in King’s belly.
“Extra-strength protection,” was all he said, though, squeezing at the solid base where Jonah’s knot was already threatening to pop.
Jonah groaned, hands balled into fists. “Tease,” he growled, and grabbed King, lifting him up with one hand and lowering him down onto Jonah’s cock, slowly impaling him.
“Oh fuck,” King gasped as his body opened up and drew Jonah in deeper, deeper still. He clutched at Jonah’s big, straining shoulders, and let himself be lifted and lowered again and again until he was fully seated on Jonah’s lap. He’d never been so full, never been so properly fucked by anyone before, and they’d only just started. He bore down experimentally, shuddering at the feel of his mate inside.
Like this, King was taller than Jonah for once, so he bent, catching Jonah’s mouth in an open-mouthed kiss that broke as soon as they started to move, fucking back and forth in tiny movements. Jonah needed more, though, and so did King, so he didn’t complain when he found himself flat on his back, Jonah moving him with sure hands to keep King in place so he could thrust back inside, going even deeper. King just hooked one leg over Jonah’s hip, digging the heel of his foot into Jonah’s ass, opening himself wider as he spurred his lover on faster.
“Come on,” he grunted. Jonah started thrusting, and King could only cry out when Jonah found the perfect angle to hit his prostate. “There. There, again.”
“Pushy,” Jonah panted, but did it again, driving King out of his mind with how good it felt. Then he reached between them and wrapped a big, work-roughened hand around King’s cock, stroking him quickly. “I won’t last. You’re so tight, and I need you so much. Need you to come.”
“Yes,” King managed, the need to come, to mate, to mark Jonah as his rising up like a tidal wave he couldn’t ignore this time. “I’m so close, love. Close.”
“Bite me,” Jonah said, tilting his head to the side, exposing his neck. “Make me yours forever. Love you so much, King.”
The punch of Jonah’s submission drove the air from King’s lungs, and he embraced the way his teeth elongated, sharpening into a predator’s smile. Just before his orgasm hit, threatening to drag him under like a rip current, King drew back and struck, biting Jonah right where the tense muscles of his
shoulder met his neck, drawing blood on the first try. The metallic burst of blood across his tongue shoved him over the edge, and King came hard, shooting long hot pulses of spunk between them, painting their bellies in waves of white come.
Jonah roared with his own orgasm, and King almost let go of his mouthful when he felt Jonah’s knot expanding inside of him, tying them together. But then Jonah bit down on King’s shoulder, the sharp sting of teeth breaking his skin sending King flying into a second orgasm. His body clamped down on the wide and unforgiving base of Jonah’s knot, but all King knew was the pure bliss of their souls twining together, their fates permanently tangled and tied up together. He licked at the wound on Jonah’s shoulder, already closing just like it would have with a regular shifter, and hummed in pure happiness when he felt Jonah doing the same to him.
“I love you,” he said as Jonah carefully settled his body on top of his, allowing King to take his weight. Most men seemed convinced King’s smaller stature meant he was somehow too fragile to handle a good post-coital snuggle, but at this point King was unsurprised that Jonah didn’t fit in that category at all.
“I love you,” Jonah said back, voice slurred against King’s neck. “Holy shit, is knotting always that intense?”
“Wouldn’t know,” King said, kissing Jonah’s shoulder. “I’ve never done it before. No one was ever worth it.”
Jonah was quiet for a moment, then squeezed King once before changing the subject, much to King’s relief. “Will you move in with me?” he asked, and King couldn’t help but laugh.
“Love, I just tied my soul to yours for the rest of my life,” he said, idly playing with Jonah’s hair. “I’d say it’s a forgone conclusion I’ll be staying here.”
“I know better than to assume anything with you,” Jonah said, shimmying just enough to shift his knot inside of King, making the both of them gasp at the sensation. King’s cock gave a valiant twitch, trying to get with the program, but it was still way too early for him to get hard again, not after coming twice in a row like that.
“I’ll move in,” he said after Jonah had settled back down. “But only if you let me hire my cousin’s boyfriend to do the remodel upstairs so we have a space of our own.”
“That’ll cost a fortune, King,” Jonah said, shaking his head. “And I know I haven’t been paying you enough for that. We’ll get the apartment cleared out just fine.”
King bit his lips closed to hold back his laugh. “Jonah,” he finally said, “I’m the child of two sea gods. I have a couple thousand years’ worth of priceless sea wrecks in my various accounts. The interest alone means our grandchildren won’t have to work a day in their lives. Or their grandchildren, for that matter.”
“Fuck.” Jonah shook his head and didn’t say anything else. They lay there for a while longer, close and breathing in the salty tang of their love-making, but King knew the topic of his money was far from closed.
Finally, Jonah’s knot went down and he withdrew carefully, only to grab a handful of tissues to clean them up enough to prevent them from sticking together permanently. When that was done, King settled back against Jonah’s chest again, almost exactly how they had started the evening. He kissed right over Jonah’s heart and waited.
“I don’t want you to think you have to do that,” Jonah finally said. “I don’t have a lot of money left, but it’s enough for us to get by until we start the term. I can still take care of our family.”
“I’m not saying you’re a bad provider, alpha mine,” King said, keeping his voice as gentle as he could. “And you loved me when you thought I was a shiftless, jobless 20-something freeloading off of family while I got my shit together. I won’t touch a penny of the daycare expenses, but I want to nest properly. Let me make our home while you build your business. Can your pride handle that?”
“Jerk,” Jonah teased, kissing the crown of King’s head. “So long as you let me succeed or fail on my own merit, I can deal with that.”
“You gave up everything to come here, to open your daycare,” King said, burrowing closer so he wouldn’t have to compound so much open honesty with eye contact. “I fully understand the need to prove oneself when everyone else is saying you’re doomed to fail. Besides, when you are a roaring success, you deserve the right to call your dads and gloat about it.”
Jonah laughed. “I love you.”
“I love you. Now let me sleep. Tomorrow I plan to get a start on spending obscene amounts of money on the upstairs so I can move in make you regret me faster.”
“Not possible baby.” Jonah squeezed him tighter. “You and Anya are the best things to ever happen to me.”
King smiled and said nothing. He was pretty sure Jonah got he and Anya were the best thing to happen to him, too.
Chapter Twelve
Jonah
Jonah checked the tubs of toys and snacks for the third time, ridiculously relieved King had loaned him his SUV to get everything to the festival grounds. What would have been three very awkward trips back and forth in his little compact coup had become one very easy trip. Today’s 4th of July celebration was the first real chance Jonah would have to go out and meet a lot of people from the community. Setting up by himself was still going to be rough, but at least King would have Anya back at the house for the first few hectic hours.
As if he knew Jonah was thinking about him, King curled himself against Jonah’s back, hugging him from behind. “You sure you don’t mind me coming late?” he asked, strong arms squeezing Jonah around the middle. “I know today is important for getting your name out there. I feel like your mate should be there, even if today is the first time one of Quintus’s guys could come by.”
Jonah turned in King’s embrace, facing him with a smile. “You’ve been waiting more than a week for this appointment. Besides, the sooner you finish that apartment, the sooner you move in officially,” he said. “That’s pretty damn important too.”
King relaxed against him and kissed Jonah’s chin in a casual brush of affection. “I’m not being too difficult?” he asked, and Jonah wanted to shake some sense into whoever had told King he was too demanding.
“You don’t ask for that much in the grand scheme of things, baby. A remodel so we have somewhere comfortable to live is totally reasonable,” he said, curving a hand over King’s cheek, the soft prickle of his carefully maintained stubble familiar after all the hours they’d spent mapping each other’s’ bodies. “And I’ve told you: I don’t mind your rules. The things you have to work for are always the most precious.”
“You know it’s funny,” King said, looking up at Jonah with those gorgeous ocean-blue eyes. “I always thought I’d never find an alpha worth trusting. But you didn’t even give me a chance to resist.”
Guilt twisted in Jonah’s gut, but he covered by pulling King in for a kiss. The longer he waited, the worse it would be, but there was no good way for him to bring up the fact he’d been lying to King about something pretty damn important since day one. Especially since King had made it so clear how important honesty was to him. I’m so fucked, Jonah thought.
“I don’t deserve you,” is what he said, though. “But I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to earn the honor.”
King hummed in pleasure, kissing Jonah’s chin again. “Get moving before I show you exactly how worthy you are and make you obscenely late for your schmoozing.”
They still stood there, kissing lazily for a few more minutes before the baby monitor clipped to King’s pocket crackled with the sound of Anya fussing softly at being left alone in her crib for too long. Jonah climbed in the SUV and backed out of the driveway, smiling to himself. He was in for it when the truth came out, but he had to believe it would work out. It was fate that had brought them both to Vale Valley, and fate that brought them into each other’s life, fate would keep them going, he was sure of it.
Two hours later, after struggling to set up the table and tent himself, Jonah wouldn’t have objected to a little more help from fate. He
’d managed in the end, but not before cursing in front of no less than two lovely young families. Fortunately, their little ones weren’t quite old enough to start repeating things, but the burn of embarrassment was enough to make Jonah wish for the buffer of his mate.
But then more people started coming by, asking questions about the daycare and Jonah’s background before signing up for more information. More than a few of them even took advantage of Jonah’s carefully set up play area and let their children run around for a few minutes at a time while they talked. If the proud glow in his chest was anything to go by, Jonah was going to have a full class in September.
The only weird thing was the omega he had been sure was pregnant. He’d certainly smelled like it, even though he’d been adamant he wasn’t it. And the omega in question would know a hell of a lot better than Jonah, so Jonah could only assume it was all the babies in Vale Valley messing with his radar. Didn’t help that for the past several days he’d been consumed with thoughts of how King would look pregnant, and how Anya would benefit from having a brother or sister close to her age. “Must be going baby crazy,” he muttered to himself.
“That’s got to be a good thing for a man in your position,” a familiar voice said behind him, and Jonah turned to smile at the former mayor.
“Hi Rosemary,” Jonah said, waving to the beautiful blonde woman at her side. “Katarina, right? King’s other cousin? We haven’t been properly introduced.”
Katarina snorted. “I’m pretty sure that’s by design. King’s never been very good at sharing,” she said. “Or so Scott tells it, but he does like to jump to conclusions about your mate.”
Jonah blushed, rubbing self-consciously at the bite mark on his neck, his embarrassment making Rosemary laugh out loud. “King told you, then?”
