Page 19

Sully

There was a heartbeat of silence following my announcement. Following Imri’s example, I wanted to go into this mating secret free, and I’d been keeping something incredibly important from him. Something that could make or break our mating.

Imri’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?” he asked in an incredulous tone. I didn’t quite know what to make of it, but answered with a nod.

I’d never understood the expression about a person’s eyes lighting up until I watched it happen to Imri. Except it wasn’t just his eyes, it reached every inch of his body. He was delighted! Relief made my limbs feel like rubber.

He launched into movement, grabbing my hands and pulling me with him to the front door, which he threw open .

“Sully’s pregnant!” he yelled as he towed me into the kitchen.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at us, then erupted into congratulations. All except the little boy, Sandy.

Seeing his sweet face scrunched with worry, I tugged my hand free of Imri’s hold, letting my mate hug the rest of his family while I tended to Sandy.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“Does this mean we have to leave Dad? Is he replacing us?”

I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, yet it was impossible to resist going to my knees, throwing my arms around the little boy, and gathering him into a hug.

“Oh, no! That’s not it at all. We need you, Sandy! Who else is going to teach this little baby how to live in the woods? Show them where’s safe to play? Me and your dad will need all three of you if we’re going to cope.”

He pulled back to look at me. “You will?”

“Absolutely. Our family wouldn’t be complete without you in it. Now your dad is awesome, but I’ve never lived anywhere aside from home or college. I don’t know how to cook!” His expression was borderline hilarious. He was horrified and determined.

“You don’t? I can teach you.”

“See?” I took his hands in my own. “We need you around. More than that, your dad would be sad if you went away.”

“He would?”

“Yeah, I would,” Imri assured him. “I couldn’t imagine my life without you here. All of you have made me so happy. The baby won’t change anything. Not how much I love any of you. They are just another part of our growing family.” He stroked Sandy’s hair off his face with a tender touch.

He was already a fantastic dad. I couldn’t wait to see how he was with our little joey, or pup, I guess. It was fifty-fifty on if they would take after me or him, though we wouldn’t find out their form until they shifted at around three years old.

Even though I was scared about the pregnancy, I was happy about it. Maybe I’d gotten pregnant far sooner than I’d anticipated, but this was my fated mate in front of me. I couldn’t resist following fate’s plan for me.

“Dinner’s ready. Now, Trisha and Sully, I know you’ve already eaten, but can I tempt you to try some?” one of Imri’s parents asked from next to the stove.

I winced. “Um, we’re both vegetarian.”

Imri laughed. “Of course you are.”

The parent in charge of the cooking joined in with Imri’s laughter. “Not a problem. We’ve got a tasty salad, some sides. You eat dairy and eggs, right? You’ll need lots of protein growing a baby.”

“Yeah, I do.”

We were ushered to seats at the table. I sat next to Imri, who made the introductions. The food was great, the company better. I even got to help with bedtime. The twins wanted me to read to them, which Imri said was a sign of acceptance.

It was getting late by the time we went back downstairs, where Trisha was chatting with Ellie and Farah like they were old friends.

“Um… we should probably get back.”

Ellie frowned. “I thought you two would bond now everything is out in the open.”

“I… we don’t have to rush into anything. I mean, I want you, but there’s time still, before people realize I’m pregnant.”

Unfortunately, while inhibitors hid the scent of what we were, they weren’t designed to cover the change when someone got pregnant. I’d recently found that out when I read it in the charter. It was to ensure the pregnant person’s safety.

Besides the new scent note, which urged others to protect, there were slight physical changes fairly early on in pregnancy. My hips would widen and my chest would grow, getting ready to provide milk for the baby.

“That’s not… Honey, have you had any symptoms because of being apart from Imri?” Ellie’s concern began to worry me.

“Uh, a little. I got ill, but the doctor didn’t seem particularly concerned.”

“I’ve had this feeling in my chest—“ Imri added.

“That doctor needs a talking to!” Farah interrupted. She was clearly upset.

Ellie nodded at her mate. “That’s a fated bond pulling at you.” She met my eyes sympathetically. “Honey, staying away from your fated while pregnant can cause a miscarriage or early labor.”

“Breathe, Sully, just breathe.” Imri ran his hand over my back while I sat with my head between my knees.

“I’ve ruined everything!” I cried. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I hiccuped with sobs, barely getting a full breath.

“No, you haven’t, sweetheart,” Imri soothed. Having my alpha next to me was the only thing keeping me together.

What a mess!

He pulled me into his arms and rocked me until sleep took me under.

When I woke, I was somewhere else completely. I hadn’t even noticed us moving. Wherever it was, it had the most comfortable bed. The only illumination was fairy lights all around the space, making it homey. It felt like a trailer or camper. There was soft music playing from speakers, adding to the ambience.

“Where—?”

I turned over to find Imri lying on the soft, red sheets with me. He was only wearing his boxer briefs and a t-shirt. I don’t know why, but the sight of him lying there, feet bare and hair rumpled, was more intimate than anything we’d done so far.

“We’re in my trailer. You slept for about an hour. Trisha’s set up in Rowan’s room for the night. Rowan went to share with the twins. My moms have gone to the guest room, so it’s just us.” He had all the answers to the questions I didn’t have a chance to ask. “I thought if we were going to bond, you’d like more privacy than just our room.”

“Our?”

“Well, it will be if you’d like to move in. Once we’re bonded, you’ll have time to decide what you want to do.”

“I don’t want to bond—“

“What?” Imri looked like I’d struck him.

With a sigh, I continued. “I don’t want us to rush this bonding just because I’m pregnant. We can take some time, spend time together first, before we decide. It should be enough.”

“Sully, I don’t want to wait. Now that everything is out in the open, I want to be with you.” His gaze was imploring. “We’re meant to be together. The thought of you leaving here scares me.”

“Scares you? Why?”

“It’s… It’s irrational. I worry you won’t come back. That you’ll find someone better for you than me.”

“There’s no one better for me than you.”

“Then would you consider bonding with me? Here and now.”

My mind raced. “Are you sure this isn’t just because of the baby? I didn’t want to go into a bond with you without telling you since a bonding bite can trigger a heat. Still, I don’t want to feel like you had to just to keep the baby safe! This is a mess!”

“Sully,” he started patiently, “I wanted this before you said about the baby. Our baby. If you don’t want to rush, we can bond and you can take your time moving in.”

I studied his handsome face. His dark eyes twinkled with affection. It was too soon to be love, though I knew we would grow to love each other very much. I knew I could study the slope of his nose, the curve of his cheek, the shape of his eyes, and still be fascinated with him in the years to come.

Maybe we were doing things backwards, but we’d grow into our bond .

“If we do this, I want to move in straight away, except fuck! I’ve got my job…”

“We’ll work something out. I’ll take you to work if you want. Or you can take the truck. I’ll go pay a ridiculous amount of money to get a better road to the house. I’ll buy you a car, because you aren’t scooting about carrying the two of you on that death trap!”

I kissed him. Imri was perfect. I was sure there would be times when we got on each other’s nerves, but times like this would be worth it. He smiled against my lips before returning the kiss, his tongue invading my mouth as we got caught up in the growing need between us.

Finally, he broke away. “Want to take a risk and see where this goes?”

“Yes. I really do.”

We shuffled until we were sitting up. Imri helped me remove my shirt, being careful of the buttons, then chucked his over his head, earning himself a laugh. He pulled me onto his lap.

With a shaking finger, he traced where he’d put his bite. “I never thought I’d be doing this. I’m glad it’s you, Sully.”

He leaned down to kiss the spot, then opened his mouth wider, letting a partial shift of his teeth come through. He clamped down on the spot. Sharp teeth broke the skin. I cried out in surprise. It wasn’t that it really hurt, just stung.

I waited for him to lick the bite and swallow my blood before nuzzling where I’d chosen to put my bite. My little quokka teeth, designed for ripping leaves, not flesh, easily slid into Imri. The burst of his blood on my tongue cemented our bond.

Once I’d sealed it, I leaned back, content just to stare at my mate. He followed me, pressing his mouth to mine in a hungry kiss.

Before I knew it, I was stretched out on the bed with Imri above me.

“I really want to take my time with you. Are you working early tomorrow?” I shook my head. “Good, because you’re not leaving this bed until we’re both completely wrung out. That might take some time.”

He went to work then, kissing and sucking marks all over my body.

“These freckles drive me wild.” He kissed along my shoulders, making fresh marks on my collarbone. He nipped my throat, driving me out of my mind with need .

Each time I tried to touch him, he batted my hands away. “My turn to play. You can have a turn next time.”

“Promise?”

“I swear it.”

Imri worked his way down my body, teasing my hole while sucking on each of my balls, then mouthing at my cock. I wanted to fuck into his throat when he finally took the tip into his mouth.

“Oh, fuck!” I whined.

He sucked while his fingers slid into my wet hole. I was so ready for him to fill me up. I could tell he was close to breaking.

“Need you,” Imri ground out just moments before he pushed inside me, his thick cock stretching me open.

I made a strangled noise as he began to thrust. His arms came around me, holding me tightly. All I could focus on were the emotions through our mate connection and the incredible feeling of Imri inside me, hitting all the best spots.

We clung to each other, kissing, just sharing breath, while Imri set a steady pace, pushing his cock deep inside me. In and then nearly all the way out, a smooth glide from all the slick I’d made when he sucked me and worked me open for him.

My fingers dug deep into his shoulders when I reached my peak, the friction of his abs on my dick sending me over the edge.

He came soon after, his knot grew and pulsed with his orgasm, sending aftershocks through me.

Imri turned us carefully. “I’ll get you something to drink in a minute, okay?”

I nodded, perfectly content. We had the chemistry to burn up the sheets, for sure. We’d figure everything else out in time.

Sure enough, Imri doted on me as soon as his knot went down. Then it was my turn to play.

Exploring his body was fun. I’d never had an alpha who would let me tease his hole in return. I used my slick to ease two fingers inside him at the same time as sucking the head of his cock.

“Fuck, Sully! I’m gonna come if you keep… ah!”

I giggled once I’d swallowed his come at the expression on his face. “That, my mate, is your prostate,” I declared.

He pounced, pinning me to the bed. “Oh, you’re a cheeky thing, aren’t you?”