Dom looked thoughtful. “But they’re not you. They don’t need me. They don’t eat my donuts, or fight with me. No one has challenged me like you do,” Dom growled, biting Jesse’s lip so hard, he broke skin. “I fucking love it.”
Pain throbbed lightly on Jesse’s lip, but it was a welcome sensation. Because Dom was marking him again. Because Dom was giving him a fierce look, and he was smiling, all but wrapped around Jesse, his lips and his scent and his touch on Jesse’s skin. Jesse’s heart swelled so full, he couldn’t speak.
“You hated me for a long time,” he finally said.
Dom looked away. “I didn’t hate you.”
“You sure said a lot of shit to me.”
Dom didn’t answer for a stretch. Finally, he met Jesse’s eyes. “I didn’t want this to happen.” He splayed his hand across Jesse’s chest, right over his heart. “Remember I said I lost my omega? He—Mal and I were married for years. He left me. Suicide. Whiskey sours were his favorite.”
And suddenly Jesse understood why Dom always picked that drink at bar nights. He’d tried to hurt Dom with that smart-ass remark, but... he’d ended up hurting Dom a different way, hadn’t he? Guilty, Jesse said, “I’m sorry I said that shit. About it being an omega’s drink.”
Dom gave a crooked smile. “You didn’t know how right you were.”
For the first time that Jesse could remember, Dom looked somber, vulnerable. “Mal wasn’t right in the head,” Dom continued. “I was fine with it, but... he broke a promise. He said he wouldn’t leave, and he did.”
After a long pause, Dom added quietly, “I was afraid of you doing the same. Still am.”
Jesse’s heart ached. All this time, he’d thought Dom was being an asshole, when in truth, Dom was terrified of being hurt again.
“You were an asshole since that very first day,” Jesse said.
Dom cracked a smile. “Because I wanted you ever since that day.”
Jesse stopped breathing. That was... a long time. Years. He took Dom’s hand, sitting up. That made his body hurt all over; he hissed.
“Lie back down.” Dom glared. “You’re hurt.”
“I’ve had worse.” Jesse sat so they faced each other, their thighs brushing, Dom’s fingers tangled in his own. “I’m not leaving.”
Surprise flickered in Dom’s gaze, followed by doubt.
“I told you,” Jesse said. “I don’t die so easy.”
Dom narrowed his eyes. “Nate had to give you emergency antidotes. That was even before we got you on the chopper and flew over here. You almost fucking died, Sinclair.”
“But I’m still here.” And Larson was dead. And maybe now Jesse’s nightmares would finally stop.
Dom glowered harder. “This isn’t a joke,” he hissed, leaning closer like he wanted to threaten Jesse into submission.
But Jesse understood him now. He understood that Dom was angry because he was afraid. He understood that when Dom had let Jesse fuck him, it was because he’d wanted to give Jesse strength. When Dom had taken the shot for him, he’d wanted Jesse to be alive.
Even though Jesse was probably the most broken alpha there was.
Jesse grabbed Dom’s face and crushed their mouths together, tasting Dom, pushing his tongue inside. So he could claim Dom, and tell him how much he meant to Jesse. Jesse wanted to tell Dom he wouldn’t leave, he wanted to make all the promises so Dom wouldn’t have to worry again.
Dom growled and slid their tongues together, sending a jolt of electricity down Jesse’s spine. He tasted like black coffee—possibly Jesse’s favorite flavor in the world. Jesse bit down hard on Dom’s lip, enough that he bled. So they had matching marks on their bodies again.
“I’m gonna stick around,” Jesse growled. “And I’m gonna salt your coffee forever. You’re gonna get so sick of me, Dom.”
“Brat,” Dom answered, but there was a smile in his voice. Relief, too. He shoved Jesse down against the pillows, sliding into Jesse’s mouth, claiming Jesse so thoroughly that Jesse only knew his alpha, Dom’s weight on him, Dom’s scent filling his lungs.
It was the best feeling in the world.
“I love you,” Jesse blurted.
Because Dom accepted him completely—his scars, his past, the parts that made him strange. Dom had been patient with him. Dom believed in him. And he’d given Jesse all the intimacy he wanted, he’d trusted Jesse with every part of his body.
Dom smiled, dragging his wrists down Jesse’s sides. He wasn’t even surprised at all. “I should’ve told you what I felt earlier. When you first asked me.”
Jesse frowned, scrutinizing him. “Wait. You knew?”
Dom looked like he was trying not to laugh. “You were so obvious about it, I thought you were trying to tell me something.”
Jesse scrubbed his face, trying not to blush. All this time he’d thought he was keeping secrets... He felt like such a fool.
But Dom only kissed him again. And maybe Jesse could deal with it, if it meant he got more kisses from Dom.
“You’re so damn adorable when you’re flustered,” Dom murmured in his ear.
“Alphas don’t get flustered,” Jesse said. “And I’m not adorable.”
Dom kissed the corner of his lips; Jesse glowered. And Dom’s smile grew. “Anyway, I should get back to the station,” Dom said, looking regretful. “See you later.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Dom narrowed his eyes. “You just got fifty stitches, Sinclair. You’re staying put.”
“Fifty stitches is nothing.”
But Dom pressed his palm over Jesse’s abdomen, where the baby bump was. “At least stay a day. Give this some time to heal.”
Then, with a meaningful look at Jesse, Dom tugged up his hospital-issue shirt, exposing his abdomen. He leaned in, pressing a kiss next to where the stitches were. “Hey, it’s your other dad,” Dom murmured. His voice vibrated into Jesse’s body. “I just wanted to tell you that your dad and I are here, but I have to leave for work. We’re both firefighters. Your dad’s on bed rest for now, though. Maybe give him a kick for me. He’s being a brat.”
Jesse froze. Dom’s gaze was soft, his lips tugging
