Jesse touched it gingerly, still disbelieving. Then he fumbled off the bed, staggering to Dom’s bathroom. His ass ached; Dom was right. Jesse would feel this into next week.
When he glanced at his reflection, all those thoughts left his mind. Dried blood had welled up on the crook of his shoulder, where his scent gland was. Teethmarks. The sort that you gave a bondmate.
Jesse had asked, and Dom had bitten him. His heart squeezed tight.
That was the mark you gave someone when you promised your life to them. Dom didn’t want to commit. Even though he’d bitten Jesse there. Jesse wasn’t mentally right enough for him.
“Sinclair.” Dom pressed him against the counter, all sharp eyes. “Calm down.”
“I’m not calming down—”
Dom kissed him. He tipped Jesse’s face up and sealed their lips together, sliding his tongue into Jesse’s mouth. Jesse bit him; Dom hissed, but he didn’t let go. “You’re mine now,” Dom said. “Deal with it.”
Jesse’s heart hurt. “I’m not yours.”
Even though he wanted to be.
Dom kissed him again. “I’m coming with you tomorrow.”
Jesse sucked in a shaky breath, his pulse going uneven. How would that even work out? “They won’t recognize me, Dom. I don’t think you should be there.”
“They won’t?” Dom held him tighter. “Why not?”
And now Jesse’s face burned. “I haven’t been home. Since—Since I got out.”
Something like sympathy flashed through Dom’s gaze. “Why?”
“Look at me,” Jesse hissed, feeling every single one of his scars. “The last time they saw me, I was fourteen.”
He was twenty-four now. Jesse wasn’t sure what his parents expected, but it certainly wasn’t him like this, and him pregnant.
Dom sucked in a slow breath. Then he cradled the back of Jesse’s head, and held him tight. “They’ll want to see you.”
“I have a fucking bump under my abs.”
Dom growled, trailing his wrists down Jesse’s arms, marking him with blackwood. “If you were gone for ten years, Sinclair, I know I’ll sure as hell want to see you again. Whatever you look like.”
Jesse’s heart stopped. Then his eyes began to burn, and he had to blink hard. Why was Dom saying shit like this? When Jesse wasn’t enough for him? Didn’t that matter? “You’re not my mom or dad.”
“No. I’m your alpha now.”
Jesse turned away, struggling with the wetness in his eyes. He wasn’t supposed to cry. Only omegas did. He breathed in hard, trying to blink away the burning. “Fine. Whatever.”
Dom slipped his arm around Jesse’s waist. “So I’m coming with you.”
“Fine,” Jesse said, his throat too tight. Maybe he needed company just in case Mom and Dad couldn’t recognize him.
Dom kissed his bonding mark, his lips gentle. Then he slipped his hand over Jesse’s abs, stroking his wrist lightly over that bump. Where the baby was. Jesse wasn’t sure if he was more terrified of that, or lying on an operating table again.
“Shower,” Dom murmured. “Get all this sweat washed off.”
“I’m showering by myself.”
“Okay.”
Even though Jesse wanted to see Dom under the shower. Maybe next time. He pulled away, feeling raw and vulnerable. Except Dom tangled their fingers together. “Hey, Sinclair.”
“What?” Jesse turned, scowling. He almost crashed into Dom’s chest.
“Remember today,” Dom murmured in his ear. “You’re one hell of a top. ‘Specially when you’re pissed.”
Jesse froze. Dom was talking about earlier. When he’d let Jesse fuck him. “You can’t be serious.”
Dom’s smile curved his lips, slow and satisfied. “You’re something special when you threaten me like that.”
Jesse remembered the power, he remembered feeling like he could do anything when Dom trusted him. “You didn’t... You—You did that on purpose.” The dots connected in his mind. Dom giving up his dominance, Dom allowing Jesse to fuck him. Because Jesse had been feeling like crap, and then... it had faded. And Dom had replaced it with confidence. Strength.
Dom wasn’t just strong enough to buoy himself—he’d lifted Jesse’s spirits, too.
Jesse stared incredulously at Dom, wanting to leap at him, wanting to kiss him, and do something ridiculous about the gnawing in his chest that said this wasn’t enough.
It was dangerous. He shouldn’t get his hopes up so high.
He tucked himself into the shower, turning it on hot. Dom was on the other side of the shower curtains, just being there.
After spending years at the Facility, after being alone for so long... Having Dom by his side—Jesse felt safe with him.
Maybe... tomorrow wouldn’t be a complete fuck-up. Maybe, if Mom and Dad didn’t turn him away, maybe he could introduce them to Dom.
25
Dom Meets the Family
Sinclair was rooting around in the fridge when Dom woke the next morning.
It was something special waking up to that cinnamon scent, layered over with honey. Not so nice to find that Sinclair had disappeared from his bed.
Dom had been disappointed. Then he’d noticed the bedroom door ajar—he never left it that way. It was always either open, or closed. So he’d followed Sinclair’s scent to the kitchen. And he’d found that alpha raiding his fridge, not a stitch of clothing on his scarred body.
Last night had been real nice.
“Woke up early?” Dom rumbled.
Sinclair jumped and straightened. He had some raw celery sticking out of his mouth, but otherwise he seemed fine. “Where’s the honey?”
Dom pulled it out of the pantry—an unopened bottle he’d brought back from the station, courtesy of York and Perry’s overstock. It was precisely because the honey came from them, that its bottle was the perfect size to dip an alpha cock in. Not that Dom had intended it for that purpose until now.
Sinclair seemed to recognize the jar, too, cracking a smile. “I’m eating your celery first,” he said, pulling another stick out of the fridge.
“Then some meat?” Dom growled.
Sinclair eyed Dom’s hips. Then he took the celery out of his mouth and shook it at Dom. “This is harder.”
“Brat. One of these days, I’ll bend you over my knee,” Dom growled.
Sinclair raised his eyebrows. “And?”
“And not put anything into that hole.”
Sinclair scowled, turning back to the fridge. That shut him up. He
