Reality Check

by Sophie Martin

  But he did no such thing. Instead, Jim slowed his rhythm and reached with one hand behind him to play with Dom’s balls. He couldn’t reach very well, but he teased them with the tips of his fingers and then felt for where Dominic’s cock slid in and out of his body. The place of their joining was drenched in those lubricating liquids he apparently secreted. A small moan escaped his throat when Jim felt it and he lost whatever control he still had. Little whining noises kept coming from his closed mouth and he increased the tempo once again. His hips sped up and he was really close, so close… But something prevented him from reaching his peak. He opened the eyes he never knew he closed and looked at his future mate.

  “Dom…” he begged, not knowing for what. But the wolf knew. Dominic’s arm shot forward, pulling Jim down on him and taking his mouth in an intense kiss. At the same time, when one hand kept him trapped, holding his neck steadily down, the other one went to the small of his back and steadied him while Dom started snapping his hips madly up and down, ploughing into Jim like he wanted to from the very beginning.

  Jim could feel it then, orgasm building up in both of them. Dominic’s emotions were high and his beast rose close to the surface. Jim also felt something rising within himself and he didn’t know if it was only an echo of what Dominic was feeling or something else entirely, something belonging solely to himself. His balls tightened close to his body and he felt Dominic’s dick growing bigger in his ass, ready to spurt cum.

  It was like something came over Jim, some different being entering his mind while his body was trapped in the throes of passion. His lips started forming the words of a language long forgotten, uttering the archaic spell that would bind them together. At the same time, he felt rather than saw Dominic’s sharpened teeth embedding themselves in the flesh where his shoulder met his neck. Dominic mated him in the way of shifter at the same time Jim finished speaking the mate-bonding spell.

  In the next second, they both came, Jim’s cock erupting like a volcano, emptying him of every last drop of semen left in his body. He closed his eyes and saw what could only be what Dominic’s eyes saw at that moment—Jim’s body, taut with the passion of his orgasm, glowing, and his wings moving fluidly, creating a dome of light, with the mating dust falling down on both of them resembling little sparks of magic. Jim could feel what Dominic was feeling then. Awe, relief, possessiveness, satisfaction, a sense of fulfilment, and something else, a small spark of something that Jim wasn’t ready to name. He knew he was falling hard for this man, but it might have been his wishful thinking to make him see that emotion in the wolf.

  The whole thing lasted maybe a second before Jim let himself fall down on the bigger man. They lay there for a moment before Dom asked, his voice raw and full of emotion, “Did I hurt you?”

  Jim knew he meant the bite.

  “No. I didn’t feel any pain. I was too high on endorphins to feel anything but bliss,” he said but his words were so slurred he wasn’t sure Dominic understood them. He must have, however, because he asked another question.

  “Did it work? The mating, I mean. Are we bonded now?”

  “Yeah.” The word turned into yawn and Dominic laughed, the sound somehow relieved.

  “Good. That’s good.”

  “Mmm,” was all the fey could muster, and Dominic laughed again.

  “I see you’re not much of a talker afterwards. You must be the kind of guy who falls asleep straight after.”

  Jim didn’t deem that worthy of an answer. He was half asleep anyway, and didn’t even protest when he felt the bigger man moving him off of him.

  “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll take good care of you. Now and forever,” he thought he heard the shifter saying, but he couldn’t be sure, because just then, the big, inviting darkness enveloped him and he fell soundly and comfortably asleep.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dominic woke to a hot, wet heat encircling his dick. He moaned as Jiminy sucked his entire length into his mouth. The man’s mouth felt incredible around Dominic’s cock, while the fey’s clever fingers started playing with Dom’s balls and delving even further back into his crack. He felt the tip encircling his hole and pushing slightly against it. Dominic spread his legs farther apart, giving him better access. He pushed away the duvet and looked into Jim’s laughing eyes.

  “What a way to wake up, babe,” he said breathlessly, following with a moan when that dry finger pushed its tip past his guarding muscles. Jim grabbed the base of his dick in the other hand and lifted off him, licking his lips.

  “And good day to you, too.” He grinned and went back to work. He bobbed his head a few times, wiggling his finger at the same time until Dom took hold of his shoulders and pulled the smaller man up so that they were face-to-face.

  “Hey!” Jim protested. “I wasn’t done with it.”

  “I know, babe, but if you stayed there any longer, I’d blow my load and the fun would be over.”

  “Well, we wouldn’t want that, now, would we?” There was a mischievous smirk on Jim’s lips, one that almost drove Dominic crazy.

  “No, no, we wouldn’t,” he said, giving the smaller man a scorching-hot kiss before flipping him on all fours. “What we would want however, is a hard, fast fuck in the morning, isn’t that right?” he rumbled straight in Jiminy’s ear, stroking up and down his wing. The appendage grew silky under his touch and he knew it was producing the dust. He felt its effects almost instantly, but they were different somehow, muted.

  “Um, babe?” he said, unsure of what question he should ask. “Is something wrong with your dust?”

  Jim laughed, his eyes sparkling with amusement when he looked at Dom over his shoulder. “Nope. It’s only that after going through the bonding ritual with me, it won’t have the same effect over you as it once had. You will still feel the instant, potent lust, and it will make you stronger, but it won’t be in that crazy, you-doped-me-with-a-drug kind of way. You can now enjoy all the perks of being mated to a pixie without suffering the awful side effects of the mating dust.”

  “Fuck, that’s great,” Dom uttered, not really concentrating on his words. What commanded his attention were the perfect globes of Jiminy’s ass. He gave the wing another stroke and left it alone just to grab and squeeze those beautiful cheeks. He then pulled them apart and lowered himself to press a kiss to the small of Jiminy’s back. Dom continued to kiss hiss way lower down until he reached the winking pucker. He gave it first a tentative lick and then dove right in to lick, suck and nip on it while Jim went crazy, bucking under him. It didn’t take long for Dom to feel the magical lubricant coating Jiminy’s opening and for his hole to loosen, allowing Dominic’s finger access. Dom straightened after checking that he could fit three fingers right in and lined the head of his dick to Jim’s opening.

  “Are you ready for a wild ride, babe?” Dominic asked, and at Jim’s muttered agreement, he plunged right in. Jim made a small mewling noise, but it was of pleasure, not pain. How Dominic could tell, he wasn’t sure, but he simply knew it. It was as if their bodies being joined made their emotions join as well. He could feel, to an extent, what Jim was feeling, and right now, it was raw passion and need. Dom realized that Jim gave his agreement when the fey wiggled his ass as if trying to get closer to Dominic’s dick.

  “Then hang on, ‘cause it’s going to be one crazy ride,” he said, and then immediately plunged his dick deeply into Jim’s ass. He didn’t stop, didn’t give the other man time to adjust. He knew there was no need. He could feel Jiminy’s bliss and his need for more, for a hard, hot, claiming kind of sex. They could have their entire lives to do gentle and loving. Now it was all about claiming each other in every way possible.

  Dominic thrust wildly, his hips snapping with an almost inhuman speed and strength. Yeah, that’s right, I’m not human anymore. He fucked Jiminy with abandon, the kind of which he never felt before. It was like something deep within him wanted to mark the man, to own him. A low growl started deep in his throat and he felt tingling in his
hands. He looked down where he was holding tight to Jiminy’s waist and saw his fingernails changing into claws. There was a bit of panic when he thought that maybe he was changing into a wolf, but it eased as the beast whispered into his mind, Not yet. Mate. Claim. Fuck. Mine.

  No, Dominic provided, ours. The wolf rumbled in agreement and Dominic closed his eyes, speeding his tempo even more. Jim was now moaning and writhing in pleasure, his ass high in the air, shoulders and head collapsed on the mattress, while his wings did the crazy dance of fluttering and beating in an eight-shape. Dom felt his orgasm approaching and he focused enough to reach with his hand under Jim and take a hold of the fey’s dick. He started tugging at it in the rhythm of his thrusts and in just one more second, they were coming, Dominic’s essence filling Jim’s tight channel and Jim’s seed coating the sheet underneath them.

  Dom released his bonded mate’s dick and gave a few more shallow thrusts, emptying the rest of his cum into his fey’s body. Then they could do nothing else but collapse, Dominic making sure he pulled Jim toward him and to the side so that the smaller man didn’t land on the wet spot.

  “Wow!” was all Jiminy managed to say.

  “Yeah.” Dominic wasn’t much more inventive. They lay there in silence for long minutes before Jiminy stirred and turned so that he faced Dom.

  “We should do it every day from now on,” he stated.

  “Yeah, we definitely should.” Dominic grinned and planted a small peck on Jiminy’s lips. “Now let me get up, get us cleaned and start on some breakfast. What do you think?”

  “I think you’ll make a perfect housewife, my big, bad wolf.”

  “Why you little…” Dom uttered, and mock-lunged at him. Jim giggled and rolled out of his reach. He jumped off the bed and strolled to the bathroom, putting a bit of a sway to his hips and peeking smugly over his shoulder. Dom laughed and went to get up himself. It was time to get back to the real world. He was sure there would be another case waiting for him in his uncle’s PI agency. He’d also need to contact Joel and ask how the move was going. Jiminy would surely want to inform his brother about their mating. In other words, reality, as changed as it was for him now, was creeping back into his life.

  * * * *

  Dom’s father called around noon that day. He wanted to inform his son that he had gotten in contact with his parents.

  “How does he even keep in contact with them? Aren’t they supposed to pretend they’re someone else altogether?” Jim was very confused about the whole matter.

  “The wonders of modern technology and social networking. You can be friends with people you never met from across the world if you so desire. It’s apparently very easy to keep an eye on someone without actually being in close proximity to them.” Dominic’s voice was slightly disgusted. “Dad has apparently been friends with them on Facebook or something and they could see what was happening in each other’s lives without seeing each other for years now.”

  “Wow, that’s just…wow.” Jim had no words for that.

  “That’s the modern world for you,” Dominic simply stated, and asked, “Don’t you have anything like that in your plane?”

  Jiminy was about to answer, but a doorbell interrupted him.

  “That must be Timmy and Joel,” he said, jumping up to open the door. He was right, and soon a tired-looking Tim, with an equally wiped-out Joel, entered the apartment.

  “Man,” said Joel, “that was one trip I do not want to repeat.” He fell on the sofa and sat there with his eyes closed.

  “That bad, huh?” Dom’s voice was sympathetic.

  “Not bad, per se,” Tim answered in Joel’s stead, “more like utterly awkward. That woman stood over us all the time when we were packing Jo’s stuff, as if she wanted to make sure we won’t steal anything that didn’t belong to him.”

  “Yeah, and that’s after I left her all the furniture that I paid half for,” Joel added, still not opening his eyes.

  “Wow, cold, isn’t she?” Dominic couldn’t help but ask.

  “Yep,” was all Joel managed in answer to that.

  “Okay,” said Jim, trying to lighten the mood, “so Dom’s father contacted us earlier today. Apparently his parents got back to him, and they’re coming to visit as soon as next week.”

  “Wow.” That made Joel sit up and open his eyes, “You mean the w-e-r-e-w-o-l-f grandparents?” The man spelled “werewolf” as if it was a bad word.

  “It’s not a swear word, you know?” Dominic smirked and sat on the sofa opposite Jo.

  “Oh, ho, very funny. You’re the horror movie character, remember? I’m a mere human, how should I know?” It was Joel’s time to smirk.

  Dominic took his cousin’s features in and didn’t really like what he was seeing. They were always really close with Jo, more like brothers than cousins. They grew up together, living a few blocks from each other. They started dating women together and their close relationship survived Dominic discovering his sexual preferences. Jo was actually the first one Dominic told about being gay and his cousin helped him through coming out to his parents. Fortunately, their family was rather liberal and didn’t mind one way or another. Still, Dom never forgot, Joel was the one to always have his back.

  They grew apart when Dom went to the military and Joel got together with his ex-girlfriend. She seemed to dislike Dominic for some reason and he could never understand why. She didn’t even know him, but it was as if she didn’t even want to try to get to know him better. So for the last few years their friendship consisted of phone calls and e-mails more than actual face-to-face meetings.

  As soon as Dominic left the military, however, and started working for Joel’s dad, they were back together as if nothing had changed from their school years. True, Dom noticed that Jo was more subdued in a way, less vibrant than he was as a teenager, but he thought it was because he grew up, became more mature. Now, though, he started suspecting something else was going on entirely.

  He shot another quick, appraising look at Jo, who was now listening in on the fey brothers’ conversation with a small smile on his lips. Joel looked tired. He was as tall and good-looking as Dom remembered, but his muscles were less defined, as if he lost weight, and he had shadows under his chocolate-brown eyes. His usually shiny, wavy hair was now looking flat and lifeless. All in all, the man looked tired, like he hadn’t had a vacation in years and now desperately needed one. Well, he might be able to rest now that he’s not with that witch.

  “So, how’s the moving in going, Jo? Are you all ready to settle into your new apartment, neighbor?” The question seemed to distract his cousin in a good way, and Dominic joined the conversation on paints, furnishing, and decorating. Mentally, he noted to himself to pay closer attention to Joel from now on. Pack, whispered the beast inside of him. Protect. Yep, it looked like he was in a perfect agreement with the wolf. They were going to protect Joel, make sure he didn’t hook up with another crazy bitch. Oh, and also introduce him to Jason.

  Wait a moment, where did that idea come from? The question was rhetorical, but the wolf answered anyway. Alpha, pack, accept. Dom sighed inwardly, deciding the inner dialog will take some getting used to. But the beast was right. If he wanted to protect Joel from everything, including the paranormal world, he needed to get him accepted by Jason, his pack alpha. It looked like, despite his wolf being a powerful and dominant one, the creature still recognized Jason’s power as superior.

  Not that Dominic enjoyed the thought of seeing Tyler again. His wolf gave a low growl at the mere thought of the tiger, but nothing could be done about it. Jason was the Alpha and Tyler was his mate. Seeing Jason meant seeing Ty as well. It was as simple as that. The wolf grumbled a bit, but settled down. It understood the pack hierarchy better than human Dominic did. All his human side wanted to do was punch the irritating tiger in the mouth. Well, that was what the wolf side wanted, too, to be truthful. It only seemed that the wolf side was also ready to step back when Tyler’s status as an Alpha mate came to light,
which didn’t stop Dom’s human side.

  The whole question started to get too tangled and made Dominic’s head spin, so he focused on the conversation on hand instead and let all of his other worries to rest.

  * * * *

  They told Tim and Joel about their mating that day, and Timiny was delighted. He congratulated them time and time again and then spoke to Joel about spending the night in his new apartment’s spare bedroom that still worked as the fey brothers’ workshop. Jo was more than happy to agree, and Tim insisted that it was the time for Dominic and Jiminy to have their honeymoon, and that they should enjoy as much of it as they could.

  That was how they ended up once again alone in Dom’s apartment having, this time, slow and sweet sex. They fell, spent, on the bed afterwards all ability to speak seemingly left them. They cuddled close, Jim’s face buried in Dominic’s chest as he breathed in his scent. Even Jim’s wings were folded closely to his back, not giving the slightest twitch, he was so sated. The silence was calm, soothing. So Dominic was absolutely stunned when Jim said out of nowhere.

  “I think I love you.”

  “Huh?” was all he could muster, Dom was so shocked.

  “I felt something for you the day we met, and it only grew stronger the longer we were together. I thought I was falling for you, and quickly, but it wasn’t until our mating ritual that I realized I wasn’t actually falling for you anymore. I’ve already fallen. I’m in love with you, Dominic. I thought you should know that.”

  “God, babe.” Dominic hugged the little fey closely to him. “I love you, too. I love you so much that I’m terrified of losing you, disappointing you, even making you mad at me. I love you like I’ve never loved anyone before. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep both you and your brother safe. I swear it to you.”

  “I know you will, my big, bad wolf. I know you will.

  Dominic closed his eyes and let himself relax. Sure, he’d had one hell of a reality check since meeting Jiminy, but he would never change it for anything in the world. He was right where he wanted to be, with his bonded pixie mate. And nothing would tear them apart.