Page 28 of Donner

He pulled back and gasped. "I didn't think it would stay."

I glanced at the mark I'd left on Beau's pectoral. The new skin was purple, like a bruise, in the outline of my bite mark. It was gorgeous, especially since it meant I could call him mine.

Chapter 16

Beau

I admired the pretty mark I'd left on Jax's pale skin. His body constricted around me as my knot continued to grow. I couldn't get enough of him, even after I came. I nibbled along the side of his neck above where I'd marked him.

"Oh!" Jax squirmed beneath me as my knot thickened. "Oh, fuck. That feels divine."

I didn't want to hurt him. I reversed our positions, pulling him with me as I lay flat on my back with him sprawled on top of me. The bed was just long enough for my head to rest at the foot.

Jax nestled against me for a moment, grinding against my knot and making the sexiest noises. He propped himself up with his hands on my chest as he got his knees under him. Once he could sit up on his own, he played with my nipples. I'd never thought I was a nipple guy, especially since my eagle didn't have them, but Jax seemed to find a direct live wire to my cock, making it pulse as it thickened inside him. My knot felt impossibly large, and I worried for Jax, but he looked better than all right as he continued to undulate with my cock inside him, each movement bringing me closer to a second orgasm.

Jax arched his neck and reached a hand down to stroke his cock. He was close, too. I could feel his channel flexing around me. I scooped up some of the slick pooling on my thigh and smeared it over his cock, watching it combine with the precome drooling from his tip. He was so beautiful as he neared the peak of ecstasy. I tried to keep my eyes open as my orgasm rolled through me, but the force of it had me seeing stars behind my eyelids as Jax cried out above me and spurted hot cum on my abdomen.

My knot receded quickly after the second orgasm. Jax lay so still on my chest, I worried he'd passed out until he lifted his head. His half-lidded eyes looked completely blissed out.

"Now I understand." He lowered his head to my chest, and I ran my non-slicked fingers through his hair.

"Understand?"

"Knots. Whenever I asked my omega dad why he stayed with my asshole father, he would say he did it for the knots." Jax snorted. "I don't think it's worth staying with an asshole, but it's … it's life changing. I never want to have anyone else inside me." His eyes rounded and he blinked. "I mean …"

"You're my mate, Jax," I said. "I never want to be with anyone else after this, either."

"You'll still let me top sometimes, though?" He folded his hands on my chest and propped his chin on them. He looked adorable like that, wide-eyed and with his bottom lip quivering.

"Yes. As often as you'd like. I want to do everything with you."

He sighed and crawled up my body. My cock fell free, and I shivered.

" Let's get cleaned up and go to bed," he said. "It's almost daylight."

Once we were scrubbed clean, we settled back in bed. I wore a pair of boxers and Jax looked good enough to eat in his red satin shorts. They reminded me of the best possible Christmas present. All Jax needed was a bow in his hair.

I cuddled him close to my chest and listened to his breathing as it slowed into soft snores. I couldn't possibly love him already, could I? We'd only known each other for four days. My eagle squawked at me from the space he occupied in my brain. I understood well enough. Jax was our mate. He was precious. He deserved to be loved, even if I was bad at showing my feelings.

Everyone I'd ever loved had left me. My dad before I'd even had a chance to love him. My mom when she died of cancer. My best buddy from high school, who had gotten himself killed in Afghanistan. We'd enlisted together and went to the same boot camp, but then we'd been shipped off to different units. He was army ranger material, while I wanted to be a medic.

He was also straight, so straight I'd never come out to him. He'd died thinking I was his wingman. He was the reason I came out to my mom as soon as my three years were up and I returned home. Mom always knew, though.

I nuzzled through the hair at the base of Jax's neck until I could kiss a patch of skin. He moaned and grabbed my hip, grinding against me in his sleep.

"Dance with me on Christmas Eve eve," he whispered.

I almost asked him what he meant, but then he snored again.

He'd told me about the parties his elf friend held on the eve of Christmas Eve. Something about dancing, and colors, and hot chocolate. It sounded like fun, I had to admit. Fun and Christmas had been somewhat mutually exclusive in my experience. It was Mom and me, and she was always so sad. Since she'd passed, I spent my time volunteering at homeless shelters leading up to the big day, but all too often, they sent me home early to "spend time with family," a luxury I didn't have.

Jax was quickly becoming my best friend, but could he be my family? Did he want to be? He already had a family. He talked fondly of his papa elf, but not so highly of his dad, the reindeer shifter who had given him his name and legacy. How would a mate fit with that dynamic? What would Mr. Donner think of me?

I buried my face in Jax's hair again, trying to chase away the waking nightmare of a man taller and broader than Jax with darker hair and a heavy brow made even heavier by a perpetual scowl when he saw his son's disappointing mate.

I'd never been more than a hookup. I'd never had to meet the parents before, and the very thought of me as a son had sent my own dad running. I knew better than to think it was my fault, but in the dark with only the sound of Jax's snores to comfort me, I was certain any father figure would find me lacking. I gripped my necklace and tried to find some peace in my dreams.

Chapter 17

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