“Yeah, I will. Thanks.” I watched as he walked over and coaxed Macy out of the sandbox, waving cheerily as they headed out.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
We stayed out and played for another half hour, then Jedrick started getting cranky, which usually meant that Isolde wasn’t far behind. I packed everything up, jammed Jason’s blanket into my bag and kind of held it in place with my arm, then picked the pups up and headed home. No one else had dropped by to chat except Elise, and I was grateful for it. The things Jason had said made me think hard about stuff, all sorts of stuff. What was going on now, events from long ago. I hadn’t realized it before, but now I got why the alphas stopped and paid attention when Jason spoke. He had a way of pointing out things that were obvious once you’d seen them, but that you’d never notice yourself. Was that from his life out in the human world, or was it True Omega?
And if it was True Omega, it also explained a lot about Bax.
Jedrick was out like a light when I got home, and Isolde wasn’t far behind him. Thank heavens Duke was home when we walked through the door.
“Let me get him,” he murmured as he gently plucked Jedrick from my arms. “Did you have a nice afternoon?”
“Yeah. We ran into Jason and the pups and just chatted and enjoyed the sunshine.” I followed him into our bedroom with Isolde and watched while he laid our little boy into the cradle. Something about him seemed different. The way he moved, the way he smelled… I wasn’t sure. It was like how I felt for him before Justin.
It was exactly like how I felt for him before Justin. Not as strong, but holy shit…
He turned around and met my eyes, and his widened. “Bram?”
“Let me put the baby to bed,” I said, and slipped past him. His scent curled into my nose as I passed and I felt a lurch low in my belly, in the exact same spot that it had always happened before. Isolde’s eyes closed as I laid her down, and I quickly grabbed my mate and we slithered out of the room as quiet as rabbits. The more I smelled him, the tighter my stomach got, and then I realized that my cock was starting to swell.
And a big fuck you to you, Justin! Except it won’t be you I’m fucking, so take that!
I turned as soon as the door closed behind us. “Get your clothes off.”
“What? Bram—”
“I mean it!” I grabbed for the waist of his jeans and undid the button. “Unless you don’t want to get lucky.”
“You’re serious? This is—”
I kissed him, because he wouldn’t fucking stop talking and I wanted him to shut up and get naked, then get on top of me.
He let the kiss run on, but when it stopped, he began to protest. “I’ve told you, I appreciate—”
“Damn it all, Duke! Look at me!” I stepped back, though it meant taking my hands out of his pants, which was awful, and it wasn’t made any better by the confused look on his face. “Oh, fine!” I shouted in exasperation and grabbed one of his hands to press it to my cock.
Holy fuck, that feels good. I started to rub myself against his hand, closing my eyes to really focus on the sensation, and almost forgot that I was supposed to be convincing Duke to tear of our clothes and ravish me. “Oh, man. This is the best.” I opened my eyes and saw Duke’s startled and suddenly hopeful expression. “Quick,” I told him. “Before the pups wake up!”
I didn’t have to tell him twice.
He pulled me hard against him, his hands already grappling with my shirt, dragging it up my body so he could run his hands over my bare skin. I moaned into his mouth and shoved at his jeans.
“Off,” I demanded. “Now.”
“Pushy omega.” But he grinned and nibbled at my neck, ignoring my request and making short work of my jeans.
“Hardly fair,” I complained as I toed off my sneakers and stepped out of the jeans.
“Don’t worry,” he said as his hands left lines of bright arousal on my body. “You won’t be the only one naked for long.” And almost as quick as he said it, his jeans were sliding down his thighs, and then we were both naked and he’d picked me up with his hands underneath my thighs to carry me over to the couch. We fell on it and my quiet Duke disappeared behind a man who was no stranger to lovemaking. Of course, with a decade more experience, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Okay, I wasn’t really, but only because I was too busy trying not to melt into a puddle as he stroked and nibbled and licked and did things I had never even imagined, or read about in Bax’s books.
I did my best to return the favor, and we rolled around on the couch, desperately grabbing for whatever we could reach. One of my feet got stuck down between the cushion and the back of the couch and as I wrenched it out, we tipped over the edge and landed on the floor in an awkward heap of arms and legs.
“Ow,” Duke said, the rolled us over so he was on top of me again. “You’re gorgeous,” he breathed against my chest, and if my nipples weren’t much good for feeding my babies, there were excellent for Duke’s purpose of driving me absolutely insane. He licked at them and sucked and brushed them with his teeth until I was ready to cry with frustration. His hand stroked my waist, then my hip, then trailed up the inside of my thigh to cup my balls gently. It felt so good my eyes rolled back in my head and I shoved them at him with a wordless cry, begging for him to take me and make me his.
He chuckled, and his laughter made his body shiver against mine.
“Duke, please,” I whispered. This was so much better than with Justin. Then, I’d only had the heat to carry me. With Duke, I didn’t need to be in heat. I just needed him. “Duke.” I lifted my head and forced my eyes to focus. “Now. I know I should be patient—”
He grinned at me. “No you shouldn’t. Ask for what you want. I’ll give it to you.” He moved up between my thighs, giving my cock a quick stroke in passing that made me howl.
“Shh,” he joked. “You’ll wake the babies.” I didn’t have time to snark at him, though. He reached down between us and I felt him, hot against me, then a slow pressure that both ached and made me whimper with anticipation. Slowly, he pushed forward, his eyes locked on mine, and I got to watch as the sensation overwhelmed him as well, his eyes going wide, his mouth slack, his expression urgent. “I love you,” he whispered and bowed his head against mine.
“I love you too,” I told him as he filled me completely. His hips moved, and I let my body do what felt natural. My legs wrapped themselves around his waist and I wound my arms around his neck and shoulders and held him as close as I could. His breath was shaky against my neck and he moaned as he pulled back, then pushed forward again. His moan mingled with mine and I clutched at him, as if holding him tightly could keep me from flying apart.
He did that amazing out and in again and I watched his face in sheer amazement that he could bring me so much pleasure just by being him. This was what being mated was supposed to be like, what I’d always hoped for. It was better than the books, better than I’d ever been able to imagine.
Duke took over entirely, his weight braced on his elbows, his body blocking out the world. It was just the two of us, and it was heaven. His body moved in a rhythm mine leaped to match, and each thrust of his hips added to the overwhelming pleasure until everything disappeared but his eyes on mine and the glide and flex of his body against me.
As much as I wanted it to last forever, I also didn’t. A heavy knot of tension coiled inside me, waiting to be released, and the closer that release came, the more I wanted it. “Now, Duke!”
“What do you want me to do?” he breathed against my ear.
I nearly screamed. How was I supposed to know? I’d never done this before with someone I wanted to do it with. “Just make me come! Whatever you want! Please!” I hitched my legs up higher and arched my back.
He shifted his weight, planted a kiss on my cheek, then reached between and took hold of me.
“Ahhhhh,” I yelled, careless of the babies. If I woke them, I couldn’t tell, because all I was aware of was myself and Duke and my body spinning out of
control, rocketing up toward my own climax. I could tell already, this one would be different from the ones I’d given myself in the shower, or in my bedroom on the rare occasions that my parents left me home alone for a few minutes. The one with Justin didn’t even rate; it was completely obliterated by what Duke was doing to and for me. I squirmed and cried out and he thrust into me, faster and faster, making low agonized noises of his own, until my world exploded and my body completely unwound itself to his touch.
I came back to myself sobbing gently, with Duke holding me so tight I could barely breathe, buried so deep inside it was like we were one person. He grunted and thrust again once more, then, slow as dandelion fluff drifting to earth, his muscles unbunched and he slipped out so he could lie by my side. His head rested on my shoulder and he held me nearly as close as he had just moments before.
All I could smell was us, sweat and sex and another bright scent that made me think of happiness. Like, I was smelling that we were happy. That was a nice thought. I snuggled down with Duke and stroked and kissed his hair, because it felt right to do it. I was his and he was mine now, and it was going to be forever, because Duke was Duke, and I loved him fiercely.
And, holy fuck, the babies were still asleep.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
All the guys working on the new houses got to knock off early for full moon in August. They were nearly done the houses that had been planned for this year—the budget was pretty much shot. But they were new houses, beautiful ones. Duke’s and Bram’s was closed in, with the interior still left to do because they wouldn’t be living in it this year, unless they come home for the summer. And if they did, there’d be enough time to get walls up, and probably scrounge furniture. Duke would have time this winter anyway, to build bedframes and tables and chairs and shelves, so they wouldn’t have to do completely without.
The clinic half was being left alone. It would be filled in slowly as bits of money came free. Bram had mentioned an ultrasound machine, but Duke wasn’t holding out much hope. They were expensive, though Quin had said doubtfully that he could have someone look out for a used one.
So Duke was home, just getting out of the shower, when Bram came in the door with Isolde. “Oh, you’re home! Here, hold her while I get Jedrick.”
“I should build you a ramp so you could just drive them into the house.” He watched while Bram picked Jedrick out of the stroller and looped his arm through the handle so he could drag it up onto the porch.
“We’re only here another couple of weeks anyway. If we come home for the summer, maybe you can do it then. If we’re not in the new house.”
“Deal.” Duke leaned down to steal a kiss, then followed Bram over to the pups’ blanket on the floor and set Isolde down next to Jedrick. “It’s our last full moon here before you’re buried in school work. Why don’t we leave them with the daycare folks and go run together.” He nudged Bram’s hip and winked bawdily at him. Bram hadn’t been out on full moon since before the babies were born. They were now four months old—it was time. And Duke was looking forward to a full moon with a mate who might now be interested in getting up to a little adult mischief once they were out of sight of the rest of the pack.
But Bram, after everything that had happened, was an excellent parent. So excellent, that his response to a subtle proposal of moonlit hanky-panky was, “I don’t know, they’ve never really had anyone else look after them…”
“Jason’s doing it,” Duke said, though he couldn’t believe he was already playing his trump card.
“Yeaaah,” Bram said in an uncertain tone. Then, a little more enthusiastically, “Bax said he was working the puppy yard tonight.” He looked up at Duke and gave him a smile full of promise. “I know what you’re after, Duke Mercy Hills.” He leaned in close. “Maybe I’ll just tackle you here.” He pressed his lips to Duke’s, but before anything could start, a wailing cry sounded from right in front of them.
Bram broke the kiss with a sigh. “All right, Isolde. They’re his toys too, you know.” He crouched to separate the pups, and offered Isolde a hammer and a tiny drum. “Here you are. Go nuts, and leave your brother’s baby doll alone.” He stood up and hugged Duke. “Yeah, let’s have a night just for us.” Isolde began banging on the drum and Bram winced. “How soon can we drop them off?”
Duke shooed him off to clean up and get dressed for the night, while Duke tried to teach Isolde to drum to a rhythm. By the time Bram had come out of the bathroom, though, naked except for the towel he was using on his hair, Duke had to admit that his daughter was never going to be much of a musician. He turned to shamelessly watch Bram walk to their bedroom, and let out a melodramatic sigh of disappointment when Bram reemerged completely clothed.
“Don’t be such a baby,” Bram scolded. “I’m not going to the dance naked. That’s for later.” He started opening cupboards, muttering to himself about what he could bring to the potluck.
“Just make that rice thing you made last week. That was good.”
“Will you promise not to eat it all before we get there if I do?”
“If you make enough of it, yes.”
“Ha. Funny alpha.” But Bram pulled out their big bag of rice and began measuring things out into their large pot.
Duke had been surprised when he’d told Bram that Justin was there. Bram had frowned and thought about it for a moment, and Duke had fully expected something—a tantrum, a breakdown—something. But Bram had just shrugged. “I’ll ignore him. But if you’re around, be prepared to get groped in public.” And then he’d winked and showed Duke exactly what he meant by groping. Not that Duke couldn’t smell the apprehension in Bram’s scent, but Bram seemed to be taking the news of his attacker’s presence in his stride, and Duke wasn’t going to do anything to interfere with Bram’s increasing self-confidence.
An hour later, they left for Central Park. Bram carried the pot of rice as they walked toward the park, the steam rolling off it enough to make Duke’s stomach growl louder than Duke could. This was a smaller celebration—it was only in the spring and the fall that the entire pack would turn out and the Alpha paid—but it was still fun. Duke pushed the stroller, while the babies twisted and stared around them the whole time, even though Duke knew they’d been to the park at least three times just this week. It was fun to watch them get all excited, especially when one of the neighbors’ pups was running in wolf form and came up to investigate them. The shrieks of laughter from the stroller as the pup stuck her nose in the babies’ faces made Bram laugh and share a fond glance with Duke.
Bax met them at the gate of the puppy area. “Hi! I’m glad you came.” He bent down to tickle the babies. “And how are you two doing?” He straightened again. “It’s still so warm, we thought we’d set up a sleeping tent for them out here, and we moved the older pups out behind the daycare, to keep it quieter.”
Bram handed the rice pot to Duke and pushed the stroller inside the gate. “Thank you for looking after them. I’m more nervous than I thought I would be.”
“The first time is always hard.” Bax smiled and his eyes danced. “And the second. But by the time the third one comes around, I’m looking forward to it. You forget what peace and adult conversation is sometimes.”
Duke laughed. “I’m going to go drop the rice off and get something to eat. You coming, Bram, or are you going to stay here with the pups?” He raised his eyebrows at his mate.
Bram looked down at his pups and his reluctance to leave was obvious. But, taking a deep breath, he shook his head. “I’m coming.” He turned to Bax. “There’s bottles made up in the bag, all you have to do is heat it up a little—test it on your wrist to make sure it’s not too warm—and they’re fine. You don’t have to hold them or anything if they’re in the stroller, because they can hold the bottles themselves. They like to throw them on the ground though, so you have to keep an eye.”
“I will. You go have fun.” Bax hugged him and whispered something, to which Bram nodded with a wide grin, an
d danced back to Duke.
“Come on, let’s go eat, and then you and I are going to dance!”
They dropped off their contribution to the food, picked up plates, and filled them with so many delicious things, Duke worried he’d be too fat and lazy to go running after his mate to molest him. But Bram stayed close—so close he kept bumping into Duke, arms brushing arms, fingers offering tidbits of food to Duke’s lips, and Duke belatedly realized that Bram was a hell of a lot more experienced at flirting than Duke was.
And Duke’s pants were becoming too tight now. Not only that, but he was seriously considering just throwing Bram over his shoulder and carrying him off to some relatively deserted grove in the woods. It was only right—after all, the uncomfortable tightness in Duke’s pants was all Bram’s fault.
And the darn, saucy omega knew it too, by the look in his eye.
As the meal wound down, a couple of shifters set up by the flattest part of the park with their guitars and started up a song. Not a dancing song, really, just something to get everyone’s attention, let them know the dancing was going to start.
Abel and Quin strolled over to chat with Bram about school and about spending summers working with Adelaide, and they’d find someone else to look after the house in the summer. It had little enough to do with Duke—he would go where Bram went, and he could find something to do. There was always the pups to look after, anyway.
When the conversation turned to the intricacies of living in the middle of a human neighborhood, Duke’s attention wandered. He saw some of the security group hanging around, a few just enjoying the party, some others obviously working. People were starting to put their plates away and change their shape to run under the moon.
Duke leaned into the conversation and touched Bram’s arm. “Give me your plate and I’ll take it over to the table.”
“Oh.” Bram didn’t look too sure, but then Jason walked up, babyless, with Mac grinning broadly behind him. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.” He put a hand on Duke’s chest and popped up on his toes for a quick kiss. “Don’t be too long, though, okay? I want to dance with you.”
Duke's Baby Deal (MM Mpreg Shifter Romance) (Mercy Hills Pack Book 3) Page 24
