Page 14 of Operation: CuddleDom (The Port Haven Omegaverse #9)

THEO

The elevator doors closed behind us. Ren hit the button for our floor. The little shopping bag felt heavy in my hands.

“I don’t know,” Mackenzie huffed out a breath. “I’m still not sure if he’s initiating contact or I am.”

“Operation CuddleDom is working. Trust me.” Ren pulled her close. “Seriously, you two need to take pack bond classes or something. I can literally feel the shift in him. He’s more relaxed, open.”

Ren had told us about the blowjob conversation. I was still processing it. Honestly? Kind of a revelation. Apparently I was unaware that I liked deep throating and enjoyed… pain? Discomfort? Suffering? I’d have to talk to Ren about it.

No. I should talk to Justice. We were all using Ren as a buffer or a translator.

I supposed that was part of being in a pack.

We all had our strengths and weaknesses, but this was between Justice and me.

I switched the little shopping bag to the other hand, so I wasn’t holding it behind my back like a dirty little secret.

“Are you sure?” Mackenzie asked.

“Positive. He’ll be home in like an hour. We’ll do another movie night. Crawl in his lap and see what he does.”

The elevator opened, and I held my breath. The hallway was empty. I was relieved and disappointed. Another thing I didn’t want to admit was that I had a crush on the omega next door.

Ren tapped his card to unlock the door and pushed it open for us.

“Hi!” Justice practically tackled Mackenzie for a kiss. He then reached for me and then Ren, kissing us each too, like it had been months since he saw us.

“You’re home early,” Mackenzie said, flustered.

“I know. I did something. Come look.” He dragged Mackenzie forward.

Her shoulder bag toppled off her arm, and she just let it hit the floor.

The penthouse was laid out in basically one big room.

There was a dining area, a smaller cozy sitting area by the balcony doors, and then the bigger living area with the oversized couch, coffee table, and giant TV.

Jewel-colored floor pillows now littered the space.

Round little poofs and thick, squishy square ones.

A stack of those that stood waist high, tucked in the corner next to the TV console. There was a new ottoman, too.

“Pillows?” She cocked her head like a puppy.

“We never really eat at the dining room table. And I kind of like it. But it’s… triggering or whatever.” Justice was talking exceptionally fast.

I shot a glance at Ren. He had his hands casually in his pockets, an eyebrow raised, but he wasn’t completely relaxed, like he wasn’t quite sure where this was going.

“Yeah, it’s, uh…” Justice scooped up one of the square pillows and squished it in his hands.

“I… growing up, my bed was just a mattress on the floor. And well, this one time, my parents sold all the furniture to buy drugs, so I had to sit on the floor to do homework, eat, whatever.” He stalked over to the stack of floor cushions and pulled two off.

“So, seeing you guys sit on the floor, it, like, I don’t know, tips into panic attack territory. ”

Ren took a double take. I was right there with him. Justice never talked about his childhood. He also didn’t talk about having panic attacks.

“And it’s not, like, totally comfortable. The floor is hard. Maybe it’s an alpha thing, or a trauma response. But pillows. See?”

“Oh.” Mackenzie gasped. “You want to sit on the floor, but you want to be comfortable.”

“Exactly!” Justice stacked two of the pillows on the floor, and then pulled Mackenzie over. He stopped short of shoving her to the floor.

She sat delicately, bounced a little, and then beamed up at our alpha. “I love it.”

“We can get different colors,” he fluffed up another round poof and repositioned it. “Or whatever kind is good. I didn’t know what would work, so I sort of just…”

“Bought one of everything?”

“Uh, yeah.” Justice blinked like he realized that was a little bit ridiculous. “Am I going overboard?”

“No, my love,” Ren cupped Justice’s face and kissed him fiercely. “It’s perfect.”

We all arranged ourselves around the coffee table. I picked a jewel-toned emerald cushion that matched the throw pillows on the couch. Justice kept shifting his weight, turning his pouf slightly, adjusting his position like he was trying to settle the air more than his body.

The silence stretched. Not tense exactly, but crackling. None of us knew what to say now that he’d said that.

“Okay,” Mackenzie said suddenly. “I vote we name the pillows.”

Justice blinked. “What?”

“This one’s Harold,” she said, patting the fluffy plum-colored poof beside her. “He’s judging me, but he’s soft about it.”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “You’re naming the furniture now?”

“Don’t act surprised.” She pointed at my cushion. “That one’s definitely a Lucinda. Very classy. Very smug.”

I snorted. “She does have main character energy.”

Justice made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sigh and sank a little deeper into his own pillow. “Mine’s unnamed. I’m not forming emotional attachments to floor décor.”

“Coward,” Mackenzie grinned.

“I’m playing the pack lead card. We’re going out for dinner. I think we should give Lucinda and Harold time to settle in,” Justice announced, a huge smile lighting up his face.

“Fine. I’ll play the alpha card. We’re going to a steakhouse,” Ren said.

“I’ll need to change. What level of fancy are we going for?”

“Wear that blue dress so I can fantasize about peeling you out of it all through dinner.” Ren’s voice almost had a growl in it.

“Only if you wear a suit.”

“Well,” he smacked his palms on the table and stood. “I guess we’re all changing.”

We all got up from the table. Justice hung back, flipping through his phone.

“I’ll make a reservation.”

I put the shopping bag on my bed and pulled open my closet to assess my options.

There was a soft tap at the door. Justice stepped in and shut it behind him. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Me too.” I eyed the bag on the bed. “I bought something.”

“Oh?”

I climbed onto the center of the bed and pulled the bag to me. Justice sat, and then reclined back on one elbow.

“I, uh, I’m a little nervous.” I pulled the tissue paper out and then the sleek box. I set it between us and pulled the top off.

Justice sat up and swung his legs on the bed, sitting cross-legged. “Cuffs?”

I licked my lips and pulled out one of the four matching padded leather cuffs from the foam cradle.

“I did a lot of research.” There was a little instruction book tucked in the edge of the box.

Justice honed in on it and flipped through it quickly.

Figures. “They have a breakaway clasp for emergencies.” I knew that would be important to him, given how meticulous he was about his rock climbing gear.

“You want to try bondage. With me.” It wasn’t a question. It was like he had to actually say it out loud for it to be true.

His eyes lifted from the booklet.

“I need you to say it, Theo.”

“I want you to tie me up.” The words rushed out. I kept my voice low, not wanting it to crack or something equally embarrassing. “And… use me.”

He picked up one of the cuffs. Turned it over in his hand.

Inspected the clasp, the stitching. He unbuckled it and held it open.

I stared at it. There was something final about this moment.

Like once I did this, I couldn’t pretend anymore about who I was.

We cracked a hole in our walls and this might bring it all the way down.

I put my wrist in the cuff, and Justice buckled it shut like he was born knowing how. I swallowed back a moan and blinked fast. I traced the edge of the leather with my fingertips. My heart rate slowed and steadied, and my head spun.

Justice hooked a finger in the ring on the cuff and tugged my arm to the right. I did moan now. Then he jerked hard, making me sit up. Finger still hooked in the ring, he brought my hand up and kissed my wrist, right where leather met the skin.

“Wear the black suit. No tie. I want to see your bite marks.” His voice was low and dangerous and I fucking loved it.

“Yes, Sir.”

He stood suddenly and left me panting on the bed.

“I might never take these off,” I whispered to myself.

“They won’t go with your suit.” He ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up and looking devastatingly sexy. “Take it off before we leave and put the box on my nightstand.”

He shut the door softly. I needed a minute to make sure my legs would work before getting changed.