Page 123 of Switched

I nod slowly. “Right now.”

The cramping sucks, but it’s dying down to a dull ache.

I think I can handle it, as long as it stays low-key.

“You’re in pain,” he says. “Do you have something you can take for that?”

I give him a wry smile. “My prescription for this particular problem is located inside your pants.”

He laughs. “I was talking about pain killers.”

“I know. I shouldn’t need them. When we start … The pain will stop.”

“I don’t like to think you’re hurting,” he tells me.

“Then, don’t make me wait too long for your knot.”

He smiles. “I don’t intend to, but I think we need to at least talk about protection before I take you to bed. I don’t have anything with me, but I did notice a late-night pharmacy on the walk out here.”

“I came off the pill a few days ago, after … once I was single again. I didn’t expect to be thinking about having sex with anyone anytime soon.”

I might have condoms in a drawer in the bedroom, but I don’t mention those. They’re made for Betas. They wouldn’t contain his knot. They make them special for Alphas.

I bite down on my lip as my cramps get a bit sharper.

“You need to take something for the pain,” Gus says.

“I don’t,” I insist.

“I don’t want you passing out while I’m out getting protection.”

“Then, don’t go out,” I suggest.

“That’s the heat talking,” he tells me, though his gaze is searing, and his voice is a little growly.

“You’re not like other men, Gus. I don’t want to be careful with you.”

I’m not afraid of what might happen after.

I know he’s ready to be my true mate, like I’m ready to be his.

“I’ve heard first claimings can be extra potent,” he warns me. “You could get pregnant tonight.”

“I’ve heard the same rumors,” I admit. “How do you feel about having kids?”

He smiles. “I’m beyond ready to start a family.”

“Then we’re on the same page,” I murmur, surprised at how quick and easy the decision really is.

I guess when you’re with the right person that’s how things can be.

This is so not a conversation I expected to be having when I woke up this morning.

“You’re sure that’s not the heat talking?” he asks.

“It’s not the heat talking,” I assure him.

I put my entire life on hold for three years for that asshole Ben. I waited for him, hoping and wishing he would look at me one day and decide I was it for him. Every day that passed while he messed me around only made me feel worse.

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