he stroked his thumb over Jesse’s scent gland, and pleasure whispered into Jesse’s body. “Mind if I...?”

Jesse stopped breathing. “You’re really gonna?”

“I’ve already given you one.” Dom stroked the crook of Jesse’s neck. “But I want you to carry my mark. All over.”

Jesse’s face flushed so hot, he wished it would stop doing that. “Yeah. Sure.”

He tried to pretend it didn’t affect him so much, except he couldn’t stop looking when Dom brought his hand up between them. “You’re carrying our child,” Dom whispered. “And my scent.” He kissed Jesse’s wrist, nuzzling it until he found a particular spot. Then he grazed it with his teeth, meeting Jesse’s eyes. “Last chance to say no.”

Jesse couldn’t bring himself to say no, or yes, or fuck off, because none of them felt appropriate. So he said, “Please.”

Dom sucked in a shaky breath, pressing a kiss to his skin. Then he bit down hard, sinking his teeth into Jesse’s flesh. Pain and pleasure twisted through Jesse’s skin, all the way through his body. He hissed and tensed, jerking against Dom. His stitches pulled. But none of that beat the feeling of seeing Dom’s bite on him, tiny droplets of blood welling up on his skin.

He was Dom’s.

“Your other wrist,” Dom growled.

Jesse lifted it to his lips. Dom repeated that bite, so more pain, and more pleasure, seared down his veins. And now Jesse carried Dom’s bonding mark on every one of his scent glands.

It shouldn’t make him smile so much. Jesse averted his gaze, glancing at the crook of Dom’s neck—where there was already a silvery scar. He thought about Dom’s ex, Mal. How Mal had left Dom.

Jesse couldn’t judge, because he wasn’t right in the head, either. If it were up to him, he would never leave someone like Dom.

But maybe... Mal had left, so Dom could find someone else. Jesse could understand that. Sometimes he looked at himself, and he wondered how Dom saw him at all through all these scars. Sometimes, he wondered if Dom wouldn’t rather have another omega instead, someone more his age, someone less broken.

“Would you let me mark you?” Jesse asked, his heart squeezing.

Dom’s lips twitched. “I was waiting for you to ask.”

He tilted his head to the side, offering his scent gland. Jesse’s breath snagged. This was a big thing. Dom wanted Jesse’s mark. Even with all the scars and Jesse being younger and Jesse being an alpha. Jesse flushed, leaning in. He’d never marked anyone before.

He sniffed at Dom’s skin, finding the spot that smelled most strongly of blackwood. He kissed it. And licked it to mark the spot. Then he bit down hard, enough that Dom hissed and tensed. When Jesse pulled back, tiny droplets of blood beaded Dom’s skin—Jesse’s marking.

It looked good on Dom.

Dom had other scent glands, too—on his wrists—but Jesse didn’t feel prepared to mark him there yet. He kissed the bite on Dom’s neck, savoring it. “Mine,” he said, wrapping his mind around that idea. Dom was his. This capable man who was alpha-as-hell, who was older and wiser than Jesse, and who accepted Jesse for who he was.

“Yours,” Dom murmured, his knot swelling inside Jesse. Maybe one day, when Dom was feeling up to it, he’d let Jesse knot him, too. Jesse had the feeling that Dom would let him. All he had to do was ask.

32

The Color of Love

Jesse tried not to stare at the omegas during the next barbecue party. Rather, he wasn’t staring at the omegas themselves, but their bottles of nail polish.

Someone had arranged for a mini manicure thing the previous time—half the omegas were with their alphas, or watching the children, and the other half had gathered around a picnic bench, where bottles of nail polish glittered in the sunlight.

“This one shines a lot,” Perry said, lifting a bottle. “I found it recently, but I’m really surprised. See the specks of blue glitter? It really stands out against the silver bits.”

Jesse kind of wanted to look, too. But he wasn’t so sure about inviting himself over—alphas weren’t supposed to use nail polish.

Deep down, he’d become aware of these tendencies plaguing him. The urge to look for pretty things, the urge to feel pretty. Or even just trying on some nail polish. He knew it was the influence of his other parts, and he knew it wasn’t really him. But... he couldn’t stop the curiosity.

Dom stopped next to him, nudging the small of his back. “Sit with them.”

Jesse stared incredulously at him. “Why?”

“Because you want to.”

“You don’t think I’m trying to hit on them, or something?” Jesse asked.

Dom huffed, glancing at Jesse’s abdomen. At twenty weeks, he was really starting to show. The other guys on the team had been joking about his newly-acquired beer belly, and Jesse hadn’t thought to correct them.

“If I thought you were interested in an omega,” Dom said with a smile, “I’d be saying something very different.” He gave Jesse another nudge. Jesse didn’t want to disappoint his alpha, so he wandered over, awkwardly meeting Perry’s eyes. At least Perry knew his circumstances.

“Can I... sit here?” Jesse asked, feeling about a hundred times more awkward.

Perry glanced at Jesse’s abdomen, then patted the bench next to him. “Sure thing.”

The other omegas looked up, but didn’t object to his presence. So Jesse watched as they picked out colors and helped paint each other’s nails.

He decided that he really liked the sparkly polish Perry had first picked out, the one with bits of blue glitter. He didn’t know how to ask, though. He memorized its brand and name, just so he could go to a store later, maybe. So he could experiment with it in secret.

Perry met his eyes. “Would you like to try some, too?”

Jesse glanced at the bottle with the silver glitter, biting his lip. How did he ask while still sounding like an alpha?

Then he glanced at Dom, his heart missing a beat. Would Dom judge him for this?

Dom shrugged and nodded toward Perry. So Jesse cautiously

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