Page 14 of Curtis & Jae (Mate Match #1)

Fourteen

Curtis

In the week after Brady found out about his alphas and their secret baby, I noticed a change in Jae.

He was more… settled, I guess. Calmer for sure.

He didn’t seem to question his place in my life or in our home and because of that, he was more productive and his sickness eased some.

Both of which made me feel happier. I wanted to ease all his stresses and be someone he felt at home with.

As for Brady… he was grieving the relationship he thought he was building with the cheating alphas.

The situation there made me so angry on his behalf that I wanted to do something out of character and march to their place to give them a piece of my mind and maybe a knuckle sandwich.

Brady was so sweet, I couldn’t understand why an alpha, let alone two, would take advantage of him like that. Stringing him along was cruel.

By the Sunday afternoon, he’d picked himself up enough to slap a brave face on and head home. He thanked us both for the sleepover and loved on Percy, who had barely left his side, then hugged us both goodbye.

Over the course of the week, we got ready for Jae to meet my work family.

They were lower stakes, in his opinion, than my actual family, so were acting as a test run.

We were holding off telling them about the baby until we’d told my dad and sisters.

Jenny, my sister-in-law, was as much my sister as Lara was.

There were days I’d pick her over Lara, no question!

The crew had all worked hard over the last few weeks.

Business was booming, to the point where I was looking to hire more people.

We’d met our deadlines, so I was rewarding them with a half day paid in full and a catered buffet.

My team had earned a completion bonus, which I was sharing between us all, with mine going towards the food.

I could tell Jae was nervous about hosting the brunch, but I knew the crew would welcome him.

More because they were a bunch of nosy shits than the lunch spread I was putting on.

Luckily, I knew just the thing to put him at ease.

I’d taken the morning off work to help Jae get the house ready and pick up the food, though there was something more important to do first.

Jae roused under my caresses. I wanted to cover him in kisses, just not until he was awake enough to tell me what he wanted. “Hmm…” Jae opened a slightly bleary eye. “What time is it?”

“Early enough for me to knot you. To ease some of that stress. Then for you to have a nap.”

“I’m fine,” he protested.

“Baby, you barely slept last night. When you did you were muttering in your sleep. Let me make you feel good so you can catch another hour’s rest.”

“We don’t—”

“There’s plenty of time. The house is clean. The food will be ready in plenty of time. All you need to do is relax, let me take care of you, then shower later.”

“But—”

“But nothing. Are you really trying to talk yourself out of an orgasm?”

“When you put it like that… carry on!” Jae grinned, looking far more awake.

We only wore underwear to bed, each of us generating too much heat for more clothing.

I peeled him out of his, watching as he hardened under my touches.

Getting him ready for my cock didn’t take long.

I sucked him into my throat while fingering his slick hole.

Wanting a taste of him, I licked over his entrance, dipping my tongue inside him.

The slick there was sweeter now, full of bonding hormones now that he was pregnant with my baby.

I was seriously addicted to my mate, and we hadn’t made it official yet.

There was nothing I wanted more, but at this early stage of the pregnancy, it could be dangerous to bond with him.

The overload of hormones, which were intended to set off a heat, could cause a miscarriage.

I wanted to, so damn badly, just not until after the baby arrived, or once we got married.

What he was to me wouldn’t change because he didn’t wear a mark on his scent gland.

In my heart, he was my boyfriend, my mate, my everything.

It wasn’t long until Jae was begging for my cock. I could have gotten him off by just fingering his hole and sucking him, but I wanted to be inside him so badly. I groaned when I slid into that tight wet heat. Jae murmured a curse, then just clung to me while I rocked my hips.

Before Jae came along, I’d been paranoid about my body, hating the extra layer I carried, or how it jiggled while I fucked into him.

Now I didn’t quite love it, instead I accepted that Jae thought it was sexy.

He loved stroking any part of me he could reach when he sucked me off and when we were having sex.

There was always heat in his gaze when he watched me take a shower.

Jae loved my body because it housed my soul, and I knew he loved every extra inch.

When my knot grew and I came, I carefully turned us on the bed so Jae was over me. He teased my nipples, looking flushed and sated. All the signs of stress were gone.

“Better?”

“Much. Are you going to nap, too? I can come with you to pick up the food.”

I leaned up to kiss his head. “Sure. I’d like that.”

A short nap, a shower, and breakfast later, and Jae was looking much better. He took my hand on the way out to the truck and gave it a grateful squeeze. “Thank you for knowing what I needed.”

I raised the hand to my lips so I could kiss it before letting go to open his door. The journey was mercifully short because I knew Jae would be stressing about getting back in time to set everything out if we got stuck in traffic.

Jae was right to come with me. I wouldn’t have managed to get everything out to my truck without his help. As it was, we had to take two trips. Maybe I’d ordered too much food.

When we returned to the house, Marty was inside, having used his key to get in.

Maddy was nowhere to be seen. “Hey, hope you don’t mind but Maddy wanted to meet your cat.

I’m Marty, the best friend and half the reason he was on the app in the first place.

” Marty stepped forward to shake Jae’s hand, but saw he had his hands full of the things I let him carry in.

The lighter things only. “Let me.” Marty took a couple of things off Jae and headed for the kitchen.

Watching his response, I breathed a sigh of relief, it hadn’t seemed to bother Jae at all. I’d forgotten Marty had a key and I’d have to check that Jae was alright with that going forward. This was his home, too.

“Oh, that’s fine. Percy loves kids. I’m glad you came early.

I think Curtis went overboard with the food.

” Jae looked vaguely stunned, though relieved to hand over his share.

He trailed Marty to the kitchen, where the other omega had already put out the reusable plastic cups and biodegradable plates.

“Daddy! I saw the cat!” Maddy came racing into the kitchen. She stopped at the sight of Jae. “Is the cat your cat?”

Jae dipped down to speak to her, eye to eye. Maddy was eight now and growing like a weed. “He is. Do you want to meet him properly? He might come down if I’m there.”

“Yes, please.”

“That’s good manners, Maddy. Why don’t you follow Jae and let me help Uncle Curtis?”

The pair left the kitchen. Once they were out of sight, Marty whispered. “When were you going to tell me Jae is pregnant?” It wasn’t an accusation, though there was hurt in his eyes.

I checked that no one could overhear me. “Not until after we told my family. It’s really early. We’re just being cautious.”

Marty nodded. “Okay, I get that. But you were going to tell me soon, right?”

“As soon as we told my family, I was going to come round with cake.”

“That is the correct response. We can still be best friends.” He laughed. “Okay, the crew might not figure it out if me and Jae pretend we aren’t drinking in solidarity of Grace. Us omegas sticking together. Hannah might pick up on it, so what do you want to do there?”

“How did you know?” It was confusing the fuck out of me.

“There’s a subtle change in the pheromones of an omega when they are pregnant. I could tell when I got close,” Marty explained. “Most omegas wouldn’t pick up on it, but Grace’s scent has recently changed, so I could pick up that note in Jae’s pheromones.

“Wonder why they do that?” I mused while I helped Marty arrange the rest of the food.

“It’s a protection thing. Omegas notice it first to support the pregnant omega. Alphas notice it subconsciously. Watch how they will automatically do things for Grace and Jae later.”

Sure enough, I watched Grace have a whispered conversation with Marty as soon as she was introduced to Jae.

Hannah did the same and was included in the secret.

Then alphas like Jerry constantly moved to make space for Jae, like they did for Grace.

They gave up their seats and offered to get him drinks. It was quite amusing to watch.

We spent the day and into the evening eating and drinking.

Some of the crew had alcohol, though I abstained.

They took turns telling stories about jobs we’d done.

Some of the crew brought their kids around and they all played well with Maddy when we could get her to leave Jae.

There were a couple of board games going on in the dining room and a soccer game in the backyard, which a few of the neighbors joined in on.

All in all, it was pretty chill. Exactly the introduction Jae needed to my work family.

My boyfriend had a fast friend in Maddy.

The little girl had stuck by his side most of the day after their cat wrangling adventure, where not only did Percy allow Maddy to pet him, he also permitted her to carry him around like a baby.

Percy was back in his catio where he’d retreated to once the majority of the guests arrived.

He was happy to watch them from a safe space.

Maddy was curled up against Jae’s side, dozing lightly, all tired out from playing with the crew who were like her extended family.

Our guests helped clean up before they left, so all there was to do at the end of the night was brush our teeth and climb into bed.

“You work with some great people,” Jae said against my neck. He was cuddled in close, an arm over my stomach. I didn’t think he realized he was rubbing it.

“Yeah, I do. They liked you a lot.” More than I thought they would. I’d expected politeness and maybe some distance, but they were warm and welcoming, soon telling Jae funny stories about me at work. It couldn’t have gone any better.

“I’m looking forward to telling them about the baby. They’re going to be so happy. They spoil Maddy. All of the kids, really.”

“Maddy’s different. It’s like she belongs to us all since she doesn’t have an alpha dad. She’s a sweet kid.”

“Yeah.” Jae yawned. “I like all this. The friends, the house, having a quiet life with you. It makes me happy.”

“Having you in my life makes me the happiest man alive.”