Page 36 of Duke's Baby Deal
It was so sweet of him, but I was—surprisingly—okay with not getting off. I’d already figured out that any orgasm of mine involved Justin, and I’d be damned to the barren fields if I’d let him have anything good from me. “I’ll think about it,” I told him, so he’d relax and let me please him.
Maybe I’d even try a blow job, just for shits and giggles.
Maybe not. I wasn’t quite ready for that yet.
But I really wanted to touch him, and Duke let me roll him onto his back so I could push his pants down to his knees and then straddle his thighs. I hardly knew where I wanted to start, now that I had permission. And, in all honesty, now that he was exposed before me, rising proud and strong and waiting for my hands and—I hoped—someday my body, I was nervous. He was a big man, and all of his body was built on that scale. Including the cock in front of me.
It made me wonder how that would feel pushing inside, and I had to swallow as my stomach rebelled again, this time out of nervousness. I wondered if it would hurt, and if there was anything I could do to fix that.
Ask Bax. Tomorrow. Tonight I didn’t have to worry about that.
I wrapped my hand around him, right at the base, so the coarse hair that covered his groin scratched against my skin. It was warmer than I’d expected, and soft, but hard underneath. Like my own, but different. Maybe because it wasn’t mine, it felt different in my head. I liked it though, especially when just touching him made Duke gasp, and I felt the tug of the sheets beneath my knees as he pulled on them. I trailed my fingers lightly up it, until I could wrap my hand around the damp tip. “Tell me if I do something wrong, okay? And what you like best?” It was my first time doing this to someone else and I wanted to get it right.
“Oh, you’re doing fine, love,” he breathed.
His tone gave me confidence, and I put my other hand on him, so I had almost all of him covered. I moved them around, sometimes gripping firmly, sometimes barely touching him. At one point, I cupped his balls in one hand and played with them until I got used to their weight and their size. Maybe it was silly, but I liked that they were larger than mine, and I especially like the way he groaned and shifted underneath me when I touched them.
The tip was wetter, and my hands smelled of Duke and sex. I breathed him in deep to memorize this part of his scent, and almost started to curse Justin for taking away my own physical enjoyment of this, but I wasn’t letting him have any of this. I was doing something for my mate, caring for him the way a mate should, and Justin wasn’t worth any of that.
“Good?” I asked.
“Fuck, Bram.”
I laughed and kept touching him, exploring the different textures. I discovered that he swore when I stroked the wrinkly bit underneath the head and, when I got brave and leaned down to lick the head itself, he shouted and grabbed for me as if he couldn’t help himself. We eventually compromised on him grabbing my thighs while I made a determined effort to make him come and he made just as determined an effort to hold off.
I won.
It was the best Christmas ever.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I did manage to sneak out of bed before Duke, only to discover that the rat had already snuck out of bed before me. There were gifts under the tree with my name on them, some from Duke, but a few small ones from Midwinter Wolf. I quickly fished out the gifts I’d hidden around the apartment over the past couple of weeks, tucked them under the tree, then raced back to bed because the apartment was cold and sleeping next to Duke was like sleeping next to a Harvest Moon bonfire. I was sure it wouldn’t be quite so wonderful in July and August, but right now, I couldn’t get back into bed fast enough.
“Holy fuck, your feet are cold,” he mumbled, then wrapped his legs around mine so my feet were sandwiched between his. “Did Midwinter Wolf come?”
“You know he did,” I said, and punched him in the arm.
“Ow.” But he wasn’t bothered. Duke pulled me close so I could rest my head on his chest. “Just for that, I’m going to sleep another hour before we’re allowed to go open presents.”
“Who made you boss?” I asked through a yawn.
“I’m the alpha.” He said it smugly, and I punched him again.
We ended up dozing for nearly two hours, before my grumbling stomach forced me out of bed. “Make up your mind,” I told it grumpily. Really, I’d prefer not to be starving in the morning, and then sick all the rest of the day. Something in the middle would be fine. But my stomach just growled at me, so I jumped to it, scrambling eggs and putting on the last of our bacon before setting bread on to toast.
“Mmm, smells good,” Duke said from behind me. He wrapped his arms around my belly and kissed the side of my neck. “I’m starving. How are you feeling?”
“I could eat the furniture.”
“Maybe you won’t get sick today.”
“I hope not.” Seriously, it would be nice if it was just a one day thing. Turkey and stuffing and casseroles and vegetables and a bunch of stuff that Bax and Holland used to make in Buffalo Gap. Jason and Mac were bringing Macy, my mom and dad had been invited. I was bringing a couple of potato pies for the meal, and then some plum pudding for dessert, because I’d figured out it was Duke’s favorite. It was going to be a feast, and I was really looking forward to it. After all, I had an excuse now to eat as much as I wanted, right?
I plowed through a breakfast almost as big as Duke’s, despite being half his size. But I had yesterday’s lack of calories to make up for, so I excused my nearly porcine table manners that way. Duke watched me with an amused smile, eating his meal with much more decorum.
When my stomach was comfortably full, I sat back with my mug of tea and watched as Duke munched down the last of his toast. It was so wonderfully comfortable and domestic, and I could still smell him faintly on my skin, the scent of his body and the scent of his seed. Last night had made me happy. I felt like I was holding up my part of the mating, like things were a little fairer to Duke now.
He looked up and caught me smiling. “Merry Christmas.”
