CHAPTER EIGHT
Amber
He pulls out slowly,the movement dragging a low groan from both of us. I look down before I can stop myself, my eyes catching on the base of his cock.
The knot is there—swollen, thick, and angry-looking—trapped inside the condom. It didn’t fully inflate, didn’t lock us together the way biology dictates it should during a true mating heat, but it’s substantial enough to make my breath hitch.
It’s a visceral reminder of what just happened, of the raw biology we just indulged in.
I turn my head away, staring at the stainless steel refrigerator, feeling a sudden flush of self-consciousness.
Eli doesn’t seem to notice my hesitation. He deals with the condom efficiently, tying it off and tossing it into the small trash bin near the prep station.
He puts his glasses back on and then grabs a roll of industrial paper towels and wets a handful at the sink.
“Come here.” He turns back to me. “Widen your legs for me, sweetheart. Let me clean you up.”
I lean back against the edge of the island, doing as he asks. I feel exposed, open, but the way he looks at me isn’t with judgment. It’s with a reverence that makes my chest ache.
He wipes me gently, the warm towel soothing the sensitive skin between my thighs. When he finishes, I reach for my panties where they lie in a heap on the floor.
I’m pulling them up my legs, snapping the elastic against my hips, when I notice him.
Eli hasn’t moved to dress himself. He’s standing by the sink, holding a wad of dry paper towels in his right hand, pressed against his groin.
His face is scrunched up, his teeth gritted, and a fine sheen of sweat has broken out on his forehead.
“What are you doing?” I ask, stepping into my jeans.
He glances down at his hand, then up at me. His cheeks turn a bright, adorable pink. “It’s… the knot. It went down a little, but it’s still… there. It feels weird. Heavy.”
I freeze, one leg in my jeans, the other half out. “Does it hurt?”
“A little. It’s just uncomfortable.” He shifts his weight, wincing slightly. “Usually, if we’re knotted, we’re locked together until it subsides. Since we used a condom and I… well, I finished fast, it didn’t fully engage. But the pressure is still there.”
I finish buttoning my jeans and walk over to him.
I’ve never felt this open, this free with a lover before. With Luke, sex was a transaction, or a weapon, or something he took from me.
I never would have offered to help him. I wouldn’t have cared. But looking at Eli, standing there vulnerable and flushed, all I want to do is take away his discomfort.
“Can I touch it?” I ask.
Eli’s eyes widen slightly behind his lenses. “You… you want to?”
“Yeah.”
He drops the paper towels into the trash, exposing himself. The knot is indeed swollen at the base of his shaft, red andlooking almost painful. He leans back against the counter, bracing himself.
I reach out, my hand trembling slightly, and wrap my fingers around the swollen flesh. It’s hot to the touch, harder than the rest of him.
Eli hisses through his teeth, his hips jerking forward. “Fuck,” he grits out.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Do that again.”
“Okay,” I tell him, my voice dropping to a whisper. I begin to massage it gently, using my thumb to stroke the tight skin. “Does it feel good?”
