Page 87 of Her Second-Hand Mate

“I hope so. If...”

“Penelope,” she cut me off. “If I notice he’s getting sick, I’ll just bring him to the office. It’s five minutes away. Don’t worry. Ihavetaken care of a pup before,” she winked.

“Thanks, Florence,” I said, feeling a bit more relaxed.

“Now say bye to Mommy,” she told Gabriel and waved at me with his chubby little hand.

“Bye, my love, bye, Grandma,” I waved and made my way back home to change.

On my way home, I could feel tiny pulses of Dominic’s excitement. I had a good idea of what he was doing. I connected the dots after the tenth night I felt the exact same thing while he was in the shower. This was the only area of his emotional world that he still hid from me, but I got the feeling it was more rooted in trying to respect my desires or the lack thereof. He knew how I felt. I’d never gone back to blocking him after Nana’s funeral.

Ever since my pregnancy, I’d been pretty much arousal-free. Grace and Mira were surprised because their hormones had the exact opposite effect on them. Breastfeeding didn’t help – Gabriel nursed on demand, which wasoften,and, at the end of the day, the thought of someone touching my breasts one more time was... less than appealing. And then Nana died, and it became even worse.

I sometimes wondered whether the spark that Dominic had ignited inside me was gone for good. He let me feel his lust for me and his appreciation for my body every now and then, but other than the unavoidable pull of the bond that made me want to be close to him, I hadn’t felt much else lately.

Yet now, the idea of catching Dominic in the act sounded very appealing for some reason. My wolf sat up and urged me to hurry home. I opened the front door as quietly as I could and crept up the stairs after taking off my shoes. The bedroom door was ajar, so I peeked inside, utterly unprepared for the shockingly erotic image that awaited me inside.

I knew my mate was an attractive male. I knew it both intellectually and viscerally. My body had responded to him in ways that I couldn’t comprehend during our first year of mating. And yet, I’d never gotten the opportunity to observe him like this before – lounging completely naked in the armchair, his face covered with my nightgown, his long legs spread, and his hand gripping his erection. I wasn’t proud of myself, but I wanted to see all of it.

My breath caught, and my insides clenched at how vulnerable yet sensual he seemed. He was working himself almost methodically, twisting his fist slightly whenever he reached the gleaming, wet tip. A whisper of something slithered down my belly, and the knowledge that I was doing something naughty added more heat to my already flushed face.

I could tell Dominic was biting and licking my nightgown, and the heady fact that it was my scent he was using to fantasize caused a tug somewhere between my thighs. I almost moaned at the sensation. My nipples were straining against my bra like they were trying to pull me to him, be closer to the coarse hair on his chest, which they knew felt amazing against them. When was the last time I was surrounded by the smell of my mate’s arousal like this?

I didn’t know where to focus my gaze: Dominic’s slick fingers as they stroked his veined, thick, long erection, or the muscles in his forearm that flexed with every determined stroke, or how his stomach clenched as he approached his destination, or how his other fist desperately convulsed in the folds of my nightgown.

“Penelope,” he moaned under the nightgown, and I had to press my lips together to keep my sounds inside me. I was in the room now, standing with my back leaning against the wall, pressing my thighs together, desperate for any relief.

“You’re driving me crazy, Penelope,” he continued. “Your smell, and your thoughts, fuck,” he growled, and soon thick white jets of seed spurted all over his fist, stomach, and thighs.

He slowly removed the nightgown from his face and shot me a sleepy, lazy grin as he fell into an even more relaxed sprawl.

“You must be aching,” he drawled as he took in my tense stance.

My face was burning, but I didn’t look away. He pushed away from the armchair, still wet with his release, and stalked toward me.

“I can smell how slick and swollen you are,” he said and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. “Is all this just from watching me?”

I nodded, not capable of anything more.

“Do you need help taking care of that? Will you let me touch you?” he whispered as he traced the shell of my ear with his nose.

“Yes,” I replied before I could think about it.

His lips were suddenly on mine, licking and devouring me hungrily. He quickly rid me of the vomit-covered blouse, briefly scrunching up his nose before throwing it out into the hallway. I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the fact that neither ofus seemed to notice the smell until now, but I was too far gone under his touch. My mate’s touch. The spark I’d wondered about earlier? Yeah, it was a wildfire now.

I could feel the stickiness of Dominic’s semen fusing the skin of our bellies together, and I loved it. I’d always loved it when he rubbed it all over me. He looked down, and his eyes burned at the sight before he took the same hand he used to stroke himself and started grinding the heel of his palm against my sex as his fingers made their way inside me while I got rid of my bra.

“Dominic,” I begged helplessly, desperate for the high I knew he could give me. I was already chasing it with my hips, but I needed more.

“I know, I got you,” he said as he found the really good spot that made me gasp and arch into him wantonly.

A moment later, I was gripping his fingers with my insides so tightly that he bit out another curse word as I ultimately sobbed my release into his mouth.

We both just stood there for a moment afterward, panting, with our foreheads pressed to each other.

“Dominic,” I said tentatively, and even if I hadn’t felt his apprehension through the bond, I would have sensed it from the way his whole body tensed at my words. “Can we move to the bed now?”

“Hell yeah,” he breathed and then kissed me again.

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