Chapter Eleven

Ice cream would wait. Until after the kiss that curled my toes. His lips were smooth under mine, parting to welcome my exploration. Waiting for him for so long, I’d wondered what it would be like, how he would taste and smell, and I knew now that my fantasies were nowhere near the reality. His scent most closely compared to freshly sawn wood and cut grass. His taste sweet and spicy.

If we ate it now, it would melt before either of us could lift a spoon to our mouth. When Pike’s cheerful demeanor dissipated on arrival, I decided to back off and let him be. No matter that my bear was planning our den, whether this omega chose to stay with us was entirely up to him, and we would not go so low as to make someone under our roof feel unsafe. Or coerced. I went downstairs to pull dinner together. It was fortunate I always made enough for two or three meals so I wouldn’t have to cook every day after work. But it was a pretty ordinary dinner until the omega made his salad. I tended to lettuce and tomato, maybe cucumber, but the Brussels sprouts he found at the back of the fridge were a genius add, and he even made his own dressing.

I took a lot of pride in my baking, but as to the more savory aspects of food, I had to admit I lacked imagination. His ability to fill in those gaps felt like one more gift of Fate.

If he wanted us.

But during dinner, the tension between us grew thicker and more intense. My bear’s presence was so close to the surface, I thought he might try to break out and be noticed. He wanted our mate to see what a big, strong alpha bear he was.

But I pushed him back down, promised him that when the time was right, we’d take him out to an appropriate place where our animals could get to know one another. If he’d fought me, I didn’t think I’d have been able to stop him from making an appearance in the dining room. But, as I pointed out, We don’t want him to think we don’t have good control.

“Did I show you my room?” I asked, knowing I had not.

“No, I don’t think you did.” He cocked his head, giving me a winsome smile. “I’d love to see it.”

My bear’s roar rang in my ears as I scooped the bobcat shifter into my arms and marched toward the staircase. “Then I was remiss. I hope you like handmade quilts.”

“They’re my favorite thing,” he murmured against my throat.

“Then you’re in for a treat. My omega dad is a competition quilter,” I teased.

“So you must have blue ribbons everywhere.”

“You haven’t seen the quilts.”

I used my hip to swing the door open and carried him to the bed. The guest room bedding was store bought, but with Pops so excited to gift me his work, I didn’t see any way to avoid putting them on my bed. And who ever saw them, but me?

Until today.

“Oh my.” Pike sat up and looked around him. “This is…really something.”

“Pops is somewhat color blind, and he doesn’t let anyone help him choose.”

“I bet they are nice and warm,” he said, stroking the top quilt. “And they’re very soft. But didn’t you say he was a competition quilter?”

“I didn’t say he won.”

“They’re already growing on me. The colors are a little unusual, but I can’t imagine a nicer way to spend a cold winter’s night than bundled under them with someone special.” He lifted his gaze to meet mine.

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never brought anyone in here on a cold winter’s night or any other kind.” Not that I was a virgin, but once I moved back here and began the wait for my mate, I had no interest in anyone else.

“Really?”

“No.” I drew a deep breath, not sure how much I could say without sounding a little off, but then I knew I needed to. “When I returned here to open my business and bought and remodeled this house, I did it with a surety inside me that this was where I would meet my mate. I didn’t want any more one-night stands or relationships of convenience.”

“And you think I’m that person?” His breathing was fast. “Maybe your mate.”

If he was using “maybe,” that would have to be enough for now. I knew he was truly my mate, but it was up to him to come to that same conclusion in his own time. “Yes. And I want nothing more than to make love to you right now.”

“That’s what I want too.” He kicked off his shoes and socks, pulled his shirt over his head, and reached for his waistband. I stopped his hands.

“Let me, please.”

He moved his hands aside, and I replaced them with mine, opening the buttons one by one and urging him to lift his hips so I could get his pants past them. His boxers moved right along with them, and his cock sprang out stiff and hard and pointed at me.

Standing, I undressed myself as quickly as possible and lay down on the bed, gathering him into my arms. I kissed him again, trailing my lips from his, down his chest and belly to his cock. I was so hard, and I wanted inside him, but he deserved all the pleasure.

And the best way I knew how to do that was to close my lips around his hardness and suck him, lick him, and nibble. His scent and taste overwhelmed my senses, his pre-cum salty and tantalizing.

Pike buried his hands in my hair and held my head close to his body, his hips rocking, urging me closer. “So good, alpha, please don’t stop.”

I sucked him deeper, taking the tip into my throat and swallowing around it, afraid if I didn’t bring him quickly, I’d come right in the sheets. I’d never felt this way about anyone before, but since he was my mate, that made sense.

Then, he snarled, a very catlike sound, and poured his cum into my mouth. It overflowed my lips, copious and heady in flavor.

He was still shuddering when I rose up and positioned my cock at his hole. “You’re so slick, omega.”

“Take me, alpha. I need you inside me.”

There would be no marking tonight. No matter how much I wanted that, I couldn’t do it until I knew we’d be together long-term because once that happened it would be heart-rending to part.

But even holding back that much, I’d never felt such homecoming as I found as I filled him with my cock, his slick coating me, his muscles ripping around me. I began to move, in and out, as slowly as I could. He cried out and begged me to go faster, and I was glad to comply, riding him, climbing higher and higher until I could no longer hold back and spilled into his warm, willing body.

It took no time for me to realize that holding back from marking was not going to save me from pain when he left. But I shoved that thought aside and enfolded him in my arms, my knot swelling along with my heart.