Ottis gaped in horror. “Oh gods. No. Please tell me I didn’t say that after a first kiss.”
Doc huffed, his chest hitching. But he was brushing his fingers into Ottis’ hair, angling his head closer. Their lips met in a delightful rush of friction.
Ottis had not received many kisses in his life. Some alphas had kissed him with too much spit; some had wagged their tongues in his mouth like something out of a terrible porn movie.
And then there was Doc.
Doc kissed him carefully, just a brush of lips at first, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to do this. Ottis pressed closer. And Doc growled, sealing their mouths together. Their kiss burned hotter when Doc parted his lips and stole Ottis’ breath; Doc flicked his tongue against the seam of Ottis’ mouth, pressing in when he moaned. From there, their kiss turned into an inferno. Doc tightened his fingers in Ottis’ hair and slanted their mouths together, the next thrust of his tongue sending a jolt down Ottis’ spine.
“Beautiful,” Doc growled into his mouth, devouring Ottis with his lips and tongue and teeth. “Mine.”
Ottis shuddered, sagging as his body obeyed his alpha completely. Someone was making mewling sounds. Him. He didn’t have control over his voice anymore, not when Doc’s tongue tangled with his, tasting him and sliding against him, just as intimate as when Doc touched him between his legs.
“Eat me,” Ottis gasped.
Doc huffed against his lips. And the next kiss sent molten pleasure through Ottis’ veins.
“Mine,” Doc rasped, sliding his palm down Ottis’ back. “Mine,” he said again, rolling their hips together. “Mine,” he rumbled, flipping them so Ottis was pinned beneath him. “Mine.”
“Yes, please,” Ottis said breathlessly into his mouth. “You turned my mouth into a sentient body part. I think it’s making sounds without my permission. It might have grown a brain of its own.”
Doc broke the kiss and pressed their cheeks together, laughing so hard that his entire body shook. “Oh, s-sweetheart. The th-things that fall out of your s-sentient m-mouth. Hahaha!”
Ottis whimpered. “My humiliation knows no bounds.”
But a secret part of him swelled with pride, that he had managed to make Doc laugh.
He opened his mouth, about to say,Do you trust me enough to show me your face now?
Except Hijinks’ voice rang out sharply from downstairs.
“Probe Master. Someone’s lurking at the exterior north boundary. A few someones.”
Ottis’ stomach dropped. “Who?”
Doc was already getting out of bed, fabric rustling. When he turned on the lights, the medical masks were back on his face.
Ottis couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
Hurriedly, Doc pulled on his clothes and left the bedroom. Ottis dragged on his shirt and pants, limping after him.
“Stay with Jinks, sweetheart,” Doc said at the front door. He stepped into a pair of boots and pulled on a pair of heavy gloves.
Ottis wanted to protest. He could hear a few people on the edge of Doc’s territory, and Doc was going to investigate them alone.
Years of living with his alpha brothers had taught him that it was better to ask for forgiveness, than permission.
With that in mind, Ottis waited for Doc to head out. When Doc had made it halfway down the driveway, Ottis shrugged off his clothes, shifted into a wolf, and followed him.
Outside, the sky had darkened to a deep bruise purple. Ottis hadn’t thought they’d spent much time in Doc’s bedroom, butit seemed that the blackout curtains had messed with his perception of time. Either that, or his heat had.
He trotted on the asphalt driveway to hide his footsteps. Just beyond the tall hedge separating Doc’s lawn from the street, Ottis heard three heartbeats. Strong ones, alpha hearts. But they weren’t attacking yet. Just lurking.
It sent a sick, oily chill down Ottis’ spine.
When he was ten yards away, Doc turned, narrowing his eyes at Ottis.
Busted.
