Page 30 of An Alpha’s Guide to Finding the One

The rest of the afternoon passes by smoothly after that, but I can’t seem to focus enough to truly enjoy the Rivers company. The only thing penetrating my mind is I am in so much trouble.

I love my parents, but goddamn they can be exhausting. They hung out at the house for more than six hours before heading back to their hotel for the night, and most of that time was spent fielding questions about baby things none of us had answers to.

Do you know the genders?

“No it’s still too early.”

Will Lainey breastfeed?

“No clue.”

Do you have any names picked out?

“Frankly we’re still wrapping our heads around there being two babies.”

Will you all bond before the babies are born?

God I hope so.

That last one certainly made things awkward and I think my parents could tell because they left shortly after that. I know it isn’t likely Lainey will want to bond us before the babies are born but shit, I would bite her cute ass right now if she gave me the green light.

Collapsing onto my bed with a groan, I stare at the ceiling fan. The house has central air and is usually cold as fuck, but there’s something about a ceiling fan that reminds me of home. Law put one in for me as soon as we closed on this place. The lazy rotations are enough to help me get lost in my thoughts, and I have no idea how much time passes before a tentative knock on my door jolts me out of them.

“Hey,” Lainey whispers. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

I shake my head, but a yawn slips out. I was so nervous for my parents to meet her I barely slept last night. “Naw. I was zonin’ out but not sleeping.”

She nods, entering the room on quiet feet and closing the door behind her. I raise a brow, but she doesn’t say a word, instead coming to stand at the end of the bed and between my spread knees. I sit up, my hands going to the backs of her thighs automatically. “You alright, darlin’?”

I watch her fingers twine together, nervous energy radiating off of her through her scent. The huckleberry is sour enough that my mouth waters, hands squeezing her thighs. She lets out a quiet whimper, eyes glazing over for a moment before her head tilts, searching for something on my face.

Whatever it is, she must find it because the nerves slide off her body like silk. She squares her shoulders and looks me straight on as she says, “I want to bond with you.”

My jaw drops, shock rendering me speechless for long enough that she starts to fidget again. “If you want to! I mean, I shouldn’t assume that just because we did stuff and you claimed the babies means you also want to claim me, so it’s okay if you don’t. I just have all of these feelings and⁠—”

My brain finally jumps back online so as she rambles I curl my fingers further around her thighs and pull sideways and forward until she lands on top of me, straddling my lap. I smirk when she shrieks but decide to cut her off with a kiss that I feel all the way down to my toes. “Darlin’.” The word is barely more than a breath. “I’ve been sitting here daydreaming about you asking to bond. I can’t possibly expect you to understand just how much I want this.”

Her sigh is full of relief as her scent sweetens to that warm, syrupy berry pie scent I have come to rely on as much as oxygen. She’s short enough that her neck is within reach from this angle, so I press my lips just below her jaw, lingering much longer than necessary for the chaste kiss.

“How do you want to do this?” I ask through the hint of growl that slips into my voice.

“What do you mean?” She responds breathlessly.

My hands trail from her thighs, over her delicious ass, to her hips. My grip is firm, and the way she rocks against me in return is heaven and hell wrapped up in syrupy sweetness. “Well,” I place another kiss on her neck, licking at the soft skin there. “We can do this nice and easy, soft and sweet like you deserve…” I trail off.

“Or?” She gasps, making me chuckle.

“Or,” I lick a stripe down her neck to the hollow of her throat. “We can play. Like we did at the studio, only with less clothes.”

“That,” she pants out. “I want the second one.”

I bite my lip to hold back a groan. “Your safe words are red and yellow. Yellow means slow down for a check-in and we can talk things out if you need to. Red is a hard stop, no questions asked. You will never be punished or faulted for calling a safe word. Okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

An insane urge to hear her calling me daddy instead of sir hits hard, knocking me off balance. She hasn’t made me feel weird for anything so far, so… “how would you feel about calling me daddy instead?”

Lainey’s breath hitches, but her scent gives her away. Thick perfume fills my room so completely I know I’ll never be able to get the scent of her arousal out.