by Jill Haven
“You didn’t like your wine?” I asked, eyeing his still full glass.
He shrugged. “I don’t know why, but I don’t want it right now.” He sat up, looking me full in the face for the first time since our food was delivered. “I’m not used to this, you know. My Dad was a good guy, but he certainly never went places like this. When we visited my grandfather, sometimes there would be fancy food around, but it was all Italian comfort foods, things he’d been eating since he was a kid. In his dining room, you know? No one’s ever… fussed around after me like this. It’s weird. I’m a man. You’re a man.”
“So we can’t be romantic because we have balls?” I tapped the tip of my shoe to his and he pushed back lightly.
He rolled his eyes and snaked his hand across the table to clasp his fingers with mine. “When you say it like that, it sounds stupid. I guess we can be romantic.”
“You did say it like that. You just used more words.”
He chuffed out a small laugh and sat back in his chair.
“How often did you visit your grandfather?” I sipped my wine.
He fiddled with his fork on his plate and frowned. “Varied. Some years a lot. Dad was the person who managed a good chunk of Grandpa’s investments, which he was able to do online. That’s why I had an interest in computers to start with. No matter where we went, or what we did, Dad always kept his computer ready to pack up. Things got a lot easier when laptops got smaller and more durable.” He shrugged. “That computer, Dad, and running were the constants of my early years. I don’t think we ever stayed somewhere more than three months my whole life. Every time someone found us again, and Dad realized it, he would move us. Sometimes just apartments. Sometimes whole states or cities.” He went serious and still, the opposite of what I’d hoped to accomplish on our date.
“That sounds rough.”
The food arrived at a table on our left and Seth’s eyes followed it. I did too. The dishes weren’t what we’d had, and though I was full, I wished I could taste it because everything smelled spicy and wonderful. Seth’s eyes flew wide and he slapped a hand to his mouth before he scanned the room and bolted from the table. His departure was so sudden that I sat stunned for a moment and then got up and quickly followed after him.
The restrooms were tucked tastefully into a short hallway in the farthest corner of the room from the entrance, and I trailed in his wake. When I pushed open the men’s room door, I walked in on a pinch-faced restroom attendant with a hand over his own mouth and stomach. There was a door open in the glossy wooden stalls and the sound of retching filled the room.
“That’s my boyfriend,” I said casually. “Dinner isn’t agreeing with him. You can step outside. I’m a doctor. This is not bothering me in the slightest.” The man nodded and panted through his mouth as he bolted for the door.
“Seth,” I said softly, so I wouldn’t startle him as I approached him from behind. He groaned from his stall, and I went to the open door and then slipped in behind him. He was crouched there with one hand on each stall wall to support himself. I reached over him and flushed the mess. He shuddered and his entire body heaved again.
“I’m so sorry,” he croaked.
My mind raced. He was dragon and human. A dragon didn’t tend to fall afoul of food poisoning or viruses, at least not easily, or unless they were already in very poor health. “Do you get sick often?” I squatted down and rested my hands lightly on his back, rubbing at his shoulders.
“Never. God, this is awful.” He hung his head over the bowl, and he got sick again. I stayed with him until he nodded shakily when I asked if he was done. I took him to the sink and cleaned him up, and he let me, resting there with his hip against the marble-topped sink as I ran a damp paper towel over his flushed cheeks. A gentleman in a suit came in and eyed us but went to the urinals without comment. Maybe my glare made him scurry along, who knew?
“Ugh,” he said after he leaned over the sink to rinse his mouth out. He slurped water a few more times.
“Yeah, I bet.”
He rested his elbows on the sink and shuddered. “What do you think got me? The mussels or the dessert? I knew I should have stopped after the first bite of that sweet stuff. I already ate way too much.”
“I have my suspicions.” And I did, though they were definitely not centered around the meal. I leaned around to look down the line of him, and of course his stomach was still flat, but we hadn’t bothered with precautions that first time—or since. It had been so spur of the moment to begin with and then… well… He was an omega and I’m an alpha, and I wanted to be in him without anything between us. He hadn’t insisted. I sighed.
“Don’t be mad at me.”
He paused and stood up and looked at me through the mirror. “Why would I be mad? Just ’cause you picked the restaurant? It happens, dude.”
“Seth,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Please don’t ‘dude’ me.”
“Sorry.” He grinned, a cheeky brat through and through, and I knew what I would hear before the word slipped out. “Dude.”
In retaliation, I held his hand and told him all the things I loved about him while I swept us through the tables to the front to take care of the check by asking the host to track down our waiter. The poor man was an agitated mess when he arrived, thinking he’d messed up, babbled about how he was new, so I made sure to tip him double what I was originally planning on.
“No, no, truly the service was excellent. My, uh, my—” I nodded at Seth who rolled his eyes, “is sick. That’s all.”
We were out of the restaurant and back in my car tout suite, after that.
“What are you doing?” Seth asked as I slowed the car at a Walgreens pharmacy and turned into the parking lot. I found a spot and stopped.
“Sit tight.”
“What, are we out of lube at your fancy house, or something?” he asked with a smirk, but there was still a sallowness to his face that let me know he was running on bravado at the moment.
“Just sit. I’ll get you some ginger ale and crackers.”
He went slightly green but nodded and did as I asked for once. I hurried. I wasn’t as brave as I should be in this situation, so when I got back into the car, I merely handed off the things I’d bought without discussing them.
“The pop, the saltines, the Tums, okay, I get those, but…” He reached into the bag and came up with a small box. His eyes got wide.
“Those should work. It’s the same hormone across all people who can be gravid, even a pregnant omega. There’s no reason—”
“Holy fuck, you bought a pregnancy test?” He ruffled in the bag. “Three pregnancy tests?” He turned to stare at me with wide eyes. “You’re high right now. How did you get high between here and the store?”
“To be certain, I could take you to my clinic and we could draw blood?”
He paled further, somehow, and dropped the box he held back into the bag. “Let’s see what… all three of these say first.” He jiggled the bag and leaned back against his seat. “I didn’t think… I mean, I really didn’t think… even though Haiden.” He shook himself all over like a wet dog.
Back at my house, I paced the wide hall outside the powder room on the first floor, which was as far as we’d gotten. Seth had asked where there was a toilet and promptly locked himself in. I knocked. “Please. Come out.”
He didn’t respond. I was beginning to get worried enough to consider kicking in the door by the time it opened, and he flung one of the tests toward me with a furious, tear-streaked glower stuck on his face.
Fumbling, I turned the stick over to see the very obvious plus sign. “Your fault.” He hissed. “Your fucking dick, your fucking swimmers, your fault.”
Emotions boiled inside me, sparking and catching flame. Pride. Fear. Love for the omega who was currently trying to murder me with a glare. “That is not how that works, anatomically speaking. You’re also part of the process.” I gave him a long look and he crossed his arms over his chest an
d leaned back against the doorframe. “You were aware this could happen too.”
I could see him frantically adding things up in his head as he glanced at me, and I didn’t like the panic that was settling in on his expression, or the way he shrank in on himself in a huddle.
“Oh my god,” he muttered under his breath. “I saw Charlotte. I should have, we should have.” He shook his head fast. “We’re not even a couple yet.”
My throat nearly closed off. “Why aren’t we?” I asked
His mouth opened and he snapped it shut again abruptly. He shook his head.
“I swear to you, Seth, on my life if need be, I’ll take care of you and this baby. I promise.”
“Promises are just bullshit words.” He straightened out of his huddle a little, though.
He didn’t come to me when I held out my hands toward him, and I sighed.
He let out a frustrated snarl. “That’s what I hate about you telling me all those pretty things, too. You say I’m so great and then what? What’s to stop you from waltzing right on to the next person when I’m too much trouble?” He shouted those last words. “Fuck that, forget I said anything,” he mumbled.
“I’ll show you every day how much you mean to me if you stick around and don’t run away again.” I stepped closer. “I mean it, every day. I worry too, you know.”
He stared up at me and finally moved toward me, slipping into my embrace. My heart slowed from the supersonic patter it had been pelting along at until I felt nearly normal. “Yeah, I suppose.”
“Do you promise?”
“Yes, I promise, I’ll let you say a bunch of nice crap and I’ll stay,” he whispered and melted against me. His weight was warm and wonderful.
I held him close but couldn’t help myself. “I thought those were just bullshit words?”
He tilted his chin up and it was pointy against my chest, but I didn’t mind. I wanted him there too badly to complain about some minor discomfort. “Touché, asshole. Touché.”
“How will you prove you’re serious to me?”
His face flared red, but then suddenly he was laughing, and he buried in against my front like he was trying to meld us into one person.
“Where’s your bedroom? I’ve got a couple of ways I might show you, and since I’m already up the duff, we might as well enjoy ourselves.”
I dropped a kiss on the top of his head, not even minding the product in his hair.
13
Seth
“Go lie on that super fancy bed,” I said, my voice far more confident than I was feeling. My stomach wasn’t doing the hula anymore, and we’d stopped along the way to let me brush my teeth in a gold and marble extravaganza that Mason assured me was a bathroom. He was really considerate when it came to not wanting yuck on his lips, and honestly, I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t either.
“Okay, but you’re the one with something to prove,” he said, obviously on fire tonight, being a real… okay, not a total prick, but jabbing at all my buttons on purpose made him something. I kind of respected his ability to play the game with me. He stretched his long, edible body out along the top of a comforter that looked like about a thousand clouds had been stuffed into it, and rested his arms behind his head. There was a serious bulge between his legs already, saluting me, and that was good too. I liked knowing he wanted me.
Laughing, I started out with a little striptease, pulling my sweater up over my head. I let it drop and then peeled up my undershirt, sending it sailing. I stopped to tease at my own nipples until I was gasping. In the back of my mind I was seriously freaking out, and I knew it probably wasn’t good to do this right now—I wasn’t stupid. The whole baby thing was a huge, screaming, potential problem, for a whole lotta fucking reasons, but when he was lying there, smelling good, staring at me like I was better than anything he’d ever had in his life, yeah, I wasn’t fucking stupid. I was going to have him tonight.
I ran my hands down along my stomach and stripped at my belt. I pulled the leather out of the loops and tossed it aside. He snickered at me. Then I turned around and wiggled my butt at him. He laughed, but his voice was breathy, and his smoky musk filled the air. I stepped out of my shoes, unbuttoned my pants.
“Shake it.”
“Shut it. I’m not one of those kinds of guys. I’m all class over here.” I looked over my shoulder at him and sent him the cheesiest wink I could muster as I teased the pants down over my ass, leaving me in my boxers.
“Come here.”
“I’m having my fun,” I said, and bent over to move my pants out of the way. He groaned, a raw, real sound that trembled through my stomach and had my dick trying to escape the front of my boxers. I stood up and carefully slid them down and off. Naked, I turned to walk to the bed, but was harder than I thought I’d be already, and my dick led the parade.
Mason seemed to be having the same struggle I was. I could see the wildness in his eyes and the way his body was tense where he lay there. We were both aware of what we were ignoring, and that made me feel unhinged. I crawled up the bed and he shocked me when he lunged forward, grabbed me, and flipped me so fast the room was a blur. The bedside table rattled with the jolt of the large bed.
He hovered over me, clothed while I wasn’t, which made me feel… owned. I swallowed down some more shock when golden eyes stared back, beautiful but nowhere near human. There were scales around his face, gleaming in the soft light from the lamps in the corners of the room. I shivered as he lowered himself to press his mouth to mine and his fangs pressed against my sensitive lips. I whined and licked at them and he let loose a pleased rumble that was all dragon. My stomach went electric and I clutched at his arms. They seemed bulkier—because they were. The pure hard muscle was something I hadn’t seen quite this way since that day on the fire escape when he saved me, and that thought sent my pulse racing.
Mason nosed his way down my body, sniffing my armpit to make me laugh, scraping his teeth over my pecs. I nearly died when he flicked his tongue out to lash my nipple, sending a shock of heat on a beeline for my dick. He did it again, and his tongue was longer, not… human. Slightly rougher than usual. I cried out and arched against him, trying to get friction on my leaking prick. I brushed against cloth and whined.
“I’m going to make you scream so loud you’ll never doubt me again,” he murmured against my skin. “I promise.” He bit down softly on my nipple and I thrashed under him. It hurt but shredded through my gut in a good way at the same time. I slipped my hands into his hair and held him there.
He got his fingers under me and slid them down to my ass where he squeezed my cheeks and I was already so far gone I’d have let him do fucking anything to me right now. When he urged me over onto my front, something we’d never really done before, I went with it. I moaned when my hard-on brushed against the soft blankets and I bucked there, the friction sending pleasure coiling into my stomach. He murmured encouragingly and kissed a line down my spine, dragging his fangs on my skin as he went. I found myself rocking back onto my knees, sticking my ass in the air, all but begging him to fuck me.
“Pretty,” he rumbled and dragged his fangs over the curve of my ass. I thought I would die at that sharp pressure right there. And then he was spreading my ass cheeks. He nuzzled in, right over my hole. I clawed at the blankets as he swiped his tongue over my hole and my cock jerked up against my stomach, all on its own. Warm precum ran down my shaft, a sweet tickle that drove me nuts and made me want to fist myself, but Mason chose that moment to lick his tongue inside me. I yelled out at the sensation, good and strange and perfect. He tongue-fucked me until my balls were tight against my shaft and I was throbbing and right on the edge, ready bust.
“Mason,” I finally yelled.
He slid up my body so fast that I had dislocation because he couldn’t possibly be pressed against my back that quickly. He was so much stronger than I ever gave him credit for, just fucking scary when it got right down to it. I gasped and cried out, trembling on the knife edge
of an orgasm.
“Damn it, you make me lose my mind.” He leaned over and yanked the drawer open on the bedside table. He came out with lube and part of me was jealous—why was it open? —but then I was too busy being quickly prepped, just a light slick-up. He rubbed his cock over my lower back and then nudged down against my hole. There wasn’t enough slick, and the burn was spectacular as he entered me, but I kind of loved that too.
He didn’t give me time to catch my breath before he plunged in deep and I cried out at the mix of sensation—being full and having my nerves tapped just right. He slid his fangs along my shoulder, a sharp line on my skin, and I fucked myself back on him hard until his body was flush against me and there was no more of him waiting to fill me up.
And then his fangs pierced me and I found out I was so fucking wrong—there was so much more of him waiting to get inside my body. He sliced deep and it hurt, but the sensation got twisted up with his cock in me and that electricity in my chest sparked out everywhere from the spot near my heart, shocking every part of me.
My body seized and I came, his cock the only thing still anchoring me to the earth as I shook and felt so amazing that I couldn’t do anything except let him fuck me. Ropes of cum spurted out of my dick without me ever touching myself, and Mason came alive like a wild animal, fucking me down onto the bed. I trembled through the pleasure as he pummeled long and deep inside me, and the fantastic feelings built impossibly higher as, with a roar that was all dragon, he shoved himself in to the hilt and then rutted.
