"Come up here, pup, and I'll take care of you," Ben rumbled as he gently removed his hand from his mate's hair and reached for the man.
"No need."
Confused, Ben looked down at the man who had just sucked his brains out through his dick. "Didn't you enjoy it?"
"A little too much. I came when you did." Red stained Tommy's cheeks with his admission and Ben couldn't be happier that he turned his mate on so much.
"Come up here anyway. I want to hold you." Being a big tough Alpha, Ben never let anyone see this side of him. Not even his past lovers. He couldn't afford to appear weak in front of anyone, and as such, once the sex was over so was most of the touching. Now, however, things were completely different. Tommy was his mate, and that meant Ben could be himself with the man; he knew in his heart that Tommy would never do anything to hurt him.
Tommy gladly crawled up his larger body, and instead of cuddling in next to him like Ben thought the man would, Tommy curled up on top of him, his head snuggled into the curve of his neck. Ben barely felt the weight of the man as he wrapped his arms around Tommy and held him close.
"Thank you, mate,"
he said through their bond for the very first time. Ben could feel a small thrill race through him due to this fact.
"Anytime."
Tommy chuckled in return.
"Careful there, pup, or I might just make this an everyday thing. I've got to tell you, it's one hell of a way to start the day."
"Fine by me."
Tommy's tongue snaked out and licked up the side of Ben's sweaty neck before the man settled back and released a large breath.
"Rest, pup. You've had a very exciting twenty-four hours."
"Stay?"
"I'm not going anywhere."
Ben ran his hands up and down Tommy's back, feeling his mate relax more and more with every second that passed. Soon Ben heard a little snore and knew, once more, his mate had succumbed to sleep. Ben closed his eyes and just rested for a time, content to hold his mate close.
Ben wasn't sure how long he had lain there beneath Tommy or what the time was exactly when he heard the muted sounds of his phone ringing. It took Ben a minute to realise the reason for the sound being so faint was the phone had to still be stuffed in the pocket of his jeans from the previous night.
Deciding he was far too comfortable where we was to move, Ben ignored the phone, which he never did. This became increasingly hard though after the fifth time in a row that the damn thing rang. Heaving a deep breath, Ben carefully manoeuvred Tommy until he was lying on the bed cuddled up to one of Ben's pillows. He watched as Tommy breathed in his scent and seemed to relax right before his eyes.
Ben reluctantly got out of bed and stalked across the room looking for where his jeans had ended up the night before. Finding them in a pile halfway across the room, he smiled when he remembered last night's frenzy to undress and claim his mate. Ben reached into the pocket of the jeans and retrieved his phone just as the damn thing started to make noise again.
He silenced it quickly and walked from the room so as not to wake Tommy up. Once the door was closed, Ben started downstairs. If he was going to be interrupted this early, he needed coffee. Ben looked at his phone and frowned when he realised that it was Liam who had been trying to call him.
Swiping his finger across the screen, Ben finally answered the call. "This had better bloody be an emergency," Ben's deep voice growled down the line. He was pissed as all hell that he had been interrupted while lying with his newly claimed mate.
Silence greeted his words for a moment before Liam rushed forward unperturbed. "I'm sorry, Ben, but please tell me you did not claim Tommy last night."
"Excuse me?" he shouted, anger boiling through him at his Beta. Who the hell did Liam think he was to question him? Ben could also admit that there was a little hurt mixed in his emotions as well since he thought the man his friend.
"Ben." Liam sighed. "I mean no disrespect, you know that."
"Do I?"
"You bloody well should."
Ben grunted. Liam was right, Ben should know. "Then please explain to me why you just asked what you did."
"Have you got a calendar handy?"
"No, what the hell does a calendar have to d—" Ben stopped mid-word as his brain finally caught up with what Liam was trying to tell him. "Fuck."
"Yeah, you could say that," Liam chuckled.
"I've been so busy lately, and with everything with Tommy, the thought to check the lunar calendar never even crossed my mind. Hell, I didn't even know claiming Tommy was going to be an option until it happened." Ben ran his fingers through his hair as he settled on one of the bar stools in his kitchen.
Shit, shit, shit.
"Well, as a mated wolf, I keep very close watch on the calendar and I tried to tell you last night but you just ignored me and left."
Shit, shit, double shit.
"Does he even know it's a possibility?"
"Yeah, when I sat down and talked through everything with Declan, Tommy walked in halfway through the conversation so I told him everything. I mean, I knew the man was your mate and the possibility of it happening in the future was there so I thought it couldn't hurt to forewarn the man."
"Thanks." Well, that was something at least. Ben wasn't looking forward to explaining to his mate about the possibility of him becoming pregnant, but after last night, Ben didn't really think he had much of a choice.
"Declan's going to shit bricks if you got his baby bro pregnant, man." Liam cackled at him.
Ben groaned. "Declan can cater the baby shower and he'll be happy again."
Liam's cackle turned into a full-on laugh, and Ben couldn't help but join in with his friend.
"I'm so going to tell him you said that."
"Don't you dare!" Ben wasn't that stupid. Declan would more than likely go after his balls for that comment.
"Well, seeing as how you're now officially my in-law, it's nice to start this new relationship off with something I have over you." Ben could hear the happiness in Liam's voice so he wasn't too serious when he growled at his Beta.
"Like I don't already have a ton of stuff on you," Ben said as he chuckled evilly.
"Yeah, I know. We can't know each other for as long as we have without picking this shit up. But in all seriousness, Ben, congratulations on claiming your mate. I hope you two will be very happy together."
"Thanks, Liam. And thanks for the call this morning. Now I just need to figure out how to tell my mate."
"Tell me what?" A soft voice came from behind him. Ben swung around on the stool so quickly he nearly toppled off. Steadying himself with a hand on the kitchen bench, Ben looked at Tommy standing in the entrance to the kitchen wearing nothing but a sheet, his hair all dishevelled and patterns still pressed into his cheek from where he had been sleeping on it. Ben didn't think he'd ever seen a more beautiful sight.
"Liam, I've got to go."
"Good luck." Ben didn't wait to hear anymore. He pressed the screen to disconnect his call and placed the phone on the counter.
"Come here, pup," Ben said as he held out a hand for Tommy. His mate didn't have to be told twice. He crossed the distance between them quickly and went right into Ben's arms.
Ben wrapped around his mate, breathing in his wonderful earthy scent and sighed in happiness.
Tommy reached up and kissed the underside of his jaw. "What did you need to tell me?" he asked for a second time.
Ben pulled his mate up until he had him sitting on Ben's lap. Ben's hands burrowed under the sheet until he reached skin and then settled lightly pressed against Tommy's belly.
"Last night was the night of the new moon," Ben said. He had never really been one to procrastinate over things, preferring to just say what he needed to and get it over and done with.
Tommy looked at him blankly for all of thirty seconds before his eyes got almost comically large and he sucked in a breath. He looked down to where Ben's hand was resting against his belly.
"You mean I'm…"
"No, but the possibility is there. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if you are or not."
"Oh." Ben wasn't sure if Tommy looked sad or not.
"Do you even want kids, Tommy? That's something we never actually talked about over the last few months." Ben desperately wanted to know because the thought of a little boy or girl running around with their black hair and Tommy's deep dark blue eyes had his heart hurting with want.
Ben had been alone for thirty-four years, and the possibility of starting a family had him both terrified and overjoyed all at the same time.
"I love kids. When I was fifteen and figured out I was gay, I gave up on the idea of ever having a family with kids of my own. That's why I chose to study childcare at uni. That way I would still get to be around kids all day even if I never got to have any myself."
"Sounds reasonable."
"Thanks. When Liam told me the secret about shifters, I couldn't tell you if I was more scared or happy with the news. Because seriously between the pair of us, you can tell who would be the one to carry our child, and being a man, that thought had never occurred to me in my wildest dreams. Now though, after thinking about if for several months, the possibility of being pregnant with your son or daughter would make me so happy. What about you? Do you want kids?"
"With you, more than anything else in the world." Ben leaned down and kissed his mate, gentle, tender, and slow. When they broke apart, Ben rested his forehead against Tommy's and continued, "The thought of you swollen with my child is giving me ideas about keeping you that way for the rest of your life. I hope you want a large family." Ben smiled down at Tommy.
"How large is large?" Tommy asked.
"We'll just have to wait and see. At least we know if you are pregnant that we'll both be happy about it."
"Yep. Ben…"
"What is it, pup?"
"I want to go back to school and finish my degree." Tommy said. They had talked about this a little during one of the many nights they had spent together. Some nights they had talked for hours on end until Tommy had fallen asleep. And some nights Ben had just sat quietly while Tommy lay on the bed not saying a word. On those occasions, Ben had refused to leave until Tommy had succumbed to slumber, knowing that even though he never said a word Tommy appreciated his being there.
"I know you do, pup. Is it possible to complete the course via correspondence?"
"I'm not sure. I could probably do the majority, if not all, of it that way but I would have to look into it."
"Take some time and get all the details worked out. Even if you do need to go down to Cairns for a couple of the courses then we can organise our time around that, just so long as you're not pregnant at the time."
"Good god, no. Could you imagine what would happen if I walked onto the campus four months pregnant?"
Ben shuddered at the thought. "Never happen, pup. If you are pregnant, don't expect to be leaving the house the second you start showing. Hell, I highly doubt my wolf is going to want you out of our sight at all while you're walking around carrying our young. I have a feeling I'm going to be very overprotective and you're going to end up hating me."
"Never happen." Tommy kissed the underside of his jaw again before resting his head in the crook of Ben's neck. Ben tightened his arms around him and held Tommy close.
"Never say never, Tommy."
"We'll see." Ben knew what he was like. Even now, when they didn't know for sure, his wolf was riding him not to let his mate go. If Tommy was pregnant, Ben knew it was going to be a struggle for the entire eighteen weeks the pregnancy lasted to appease both his wolf and his mate. However, if push came to a shove and it came down to one or the other, he would do whatever necessary to protect his mate even if his mate ended up hating him for it.
CHAPTER 7
Tommy sat bolt upright in bed. He yanked the covers off and raced to the bathroom with his hand covering his mouth the entire way. The second he got in front of the toilet, he moved his hand in time as he lost the entire contents of his stomach. It had been a week since Ben had claimed him and Tommy guessed that they had finally gotten an answer to the question of whether or not Ben had gotten him pregnant.
He heaved again as his stomach rebelled against him but very little came up. Tommy knelt on the cold tile floor and rested his head against his arm that was currently lying across the seat of the toilet. If he thought about it too closely Tommy's stomach would never settle down but he knew he was going to want a shower before he even thought about going back to bed. But he couldn't do that while he was still trying to throw up a lung.
A cool damp wash cloth pressed against the back of his neck before Ben wiped his brow. The cold felt good against his heated skin.
"Everything's okay, pup," Ben's deep sexy voice crooned to him.
"Really?" The word, laced with sarcasm, seemed to lose its delivery as another wave of nausea hit him.
Ben continued to croon softly in his ear and wipe his skin until Tommy was positive he didn't have a single drop left in his stomach.
Tommy reached blindly for the toilet paper and ripped some off. Cleaning his face as best as he could, Tommy threw the paper away and flushed the toilet. He felt utterly drained.
"Come on, pup, let's get you back to bed."
"Shower, I want a shower first." Tommy tried to stand, but his legs felt incredibly wobbly.
"Anything you want." Ben picked him up and even the effort it took for Tommy to wrap his legs around Ben's solid waist was almost too much. Tommy rested his head against Ben's shoulder and sighed. He was over the moon at the thought of being pregnant with his mate's child, but with the way he was feeling at the moment, he couldn't gather the energy to show it.
Ben grabbed Tommy's toothbrush and the toothpaste off the bench then turned on the shower and stepped under the cool spray, still holding him. Ben handed the items to Tommy and he smiled weakly up at his thoughtful mate.