A shiver shook Dash violently, and his eyelids lowered even more.“I wanna see you come…”
Before Dash could hardly finish the sentence, Emerson plunged deeper, sliding his knot past the thick band of nerves. Dash wrapped his legs around Emerson’s body, pulling him even closer. When he felt the head of his cock slip through something deeper within Dash, the building tension shattered. Emerson roared, his vision distorting from the sheer force of his release. His knot expanded, chaining them together. Cock spasming, he filled his mate with a thick burst of seed.
He hadn’t filled his mate, though. He’d spent inside a condom. A tiny part of him wished the barrier wasn’t there.
His gaze locked with Dash’s as he continued to come in quick spurts.
Dash’s breathing was more regulated than his, but he still inhaled deeply as he stared up at Emerson, eyes vibrant, the gray-blue showing more. His skin glistened, cheeks soft pink and his seductive lips parted, stained deep red from their kisses.
He was the most beautiful thing Emerson had ever seen.
Emerson’s arms shook, his strength spent from the exertion. He lowered to an elbow and wiped the sweat from his brow, sentient thought slowly returning.
“That was…something,”Emerson said, his mind clearly not ready for speech, though.
Dash looked away, as if ashamed of what they’d just done. Emerson grasped his chin with thumb and forefinger, compelling his mate to look at him again.
Dash’s eyes shone with unshed tears.
Seeing them broke Emerson’s heart.“Baby…”
Dash bit the inside of his cheek, looking away again. “Don’tbabyme…”
Emerson winced but remained silent.
“I suppose you want answers now,” Dash spat angrily.
A swirl of anger hit Emerson in the chest, and he opened his mouth to argue. Didn’t he deserve at least a few answers to the millions of questions circling in his head. But the second he saw Dash’s lower lip quiver, all the questions evaporated. His big, strong alpha was hurting… and going through something Emerson couldn’t even begin to understand.
It wasn’t as if Dash could go anywhere in that moment, bound to him as he was.
“We have time for answers later,” Emerson murmured, caressing the side of Dash’s face.
Dash’s stunned gaze whipped to his, the shining still there. The quivering of his lower lip returned in full force, the wetness growing.
Emerson rolled them over, saving Dash from bearing his weight. He caressed the back of his mate’s head. “Get some rest. If I have it right, the next wave might be upon us soon enough.”
He felt a sob against him. A minute later, Dash melted into him… and a few seconds later, he was quite sure the man slept.
He was wrong, though.
“You don’t want an omega. I knew that yet I forced myself on you. It wasn’t right.”
Was that an admission?WasDash an omega?
Emerson gently turned Dash’s face up so he could look him in the eyes. “You didn’t forceanything.I was here willingly the whole way.” He searched Dash’s face, hoping his words calmed the man.“Morethan willingly.”
Dash’s lower lip quivered again. Emerson had never seen Dash so vulnerable.
The questions screamed in his head, but there was no way he was asking a single one. His mate was clearly struggling. He deserved space to tell Emerson his truth at his own speed. Biting his tongue, he caressed the side of Dash’s cheek.
“I should’ve told you before it came to this,” Dash murmured, sounding sleepy. “But everything happened so fast… and I worried you wouldn’t want me once you learned the truth.”
“I don’t think there’s much that would make me not want you.”
Dash was silent a long time.
“I don’t think I deserve you,” he whispered.
