Page 51 of Craving Their Omega

“It smells amazing.” Xavier inhales deeply. “And looks even better.”

I plop a slice onto his plate, and he doesn’t even wait for the other two to get theirs before he’s forking a bite off and putting it in his mouth. “Holy shit,” he says again, muffled through the cake. “Pen, this is so fucking good.”

“Don’t spray crumbs all over the table,” Dominic says firmly. He takes his own slice and takes a bite, and it’s almost funny to watch his face change as he chews and swallows. His eyebrows climb up into his hairline as he looks at me.

“Is it okay?” I ask.

“For once, Xavier isn’t exaggerating,” Dominic replies. “This is amazing.”

I can feel my face flushing as I serve Tristan a slice and then sit down with my own. I examine the slice with a critical eye, pleased with the lightness of the crumb and the way the syrup has soaked into the cake, leaving it moist but not dense and soggy. It’s studded with a pleasing number of poppy seeds, and they’re distributed throughout the cake and not clumped at the bottom or the top. The sign of good mixing.

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to just let myself have fun with baking, to make something I wanted to make just because I wanted to do it. To share the result with people. It feels good.

Watching the men enjoy their slices feels even better.

Tristan takes a smaller bite than the other two, and his facial expression doesn’t change, but he does say, “That is very good,” as his eyes meet mine. “There’s something herbal in this.”

“Thyme,” I tell him. “I made a lemon thyme syrup and let it soak into the cake.”

“Huh,” Xavier says, already most of the way through his piece. “I wouldn’t have thought that would taste good, aside from when you’re roasting a chicken or something.”

“A lot of flavor combinations like that can be good sweet or savory,” I say. “It just depends on the ratios and how you add things.”

“Well, you’re a genius,” Xavier continues. “I need another slice immediately.”

I smile, feeling a surge of happiness at their reactions. I was hoping they would like it, but I didn’t dream that their response would be so positive. Even Dominic and Tristan continue to make comments about how good the cake is, and I’m almost wiggling in my seat with pride.

Making dessert is my favorite thing to do, and it feels good to have that appreciated.

Finally, I take my own bite of the cake, and I can see what they mean. The syrup is bright on my tongue, lemony with that slight herbal edge that just rounds the flavor out. It’s sweet, but not overly so, and the cake itself is moist and tender.

I moan a bit at the flavor of it, mentally patting myself on the back.

Immediately, three sets of eyes snap to me, and there’s heat in all three. I sit back a little, caught off guard and surprised.

“What?” I ask. “What did I do?”

“When you make sounds like that…” Dominic says, his voice gone deep and rough-edged in a way that makes me swallow hard.

“It sounds like you’re enjoying more than just cake,” Xavier finishes.

My cheeks flush with heat and I shove another bite of cake in my mouth to distract me from the rush of embarrassment. AfterI chew and swallow the bite, I glance up at them through my lashes.

“I wouldn’t know what that sounds like,” I admit softly. “I’ve never done that.”

All the three of them look at each other and then back to me.

“Never?” Dominic asks.

I shake my head. “Never.”

“How… the fuck is that possible?” Xavier wants to know. “I mean, no shame or anything if it’s just not your thing, but. What?”

“It’s not that I didn’t ever want to,” I say, fiddling with my fork. “It’s just that… I mean… no one has ever made me… do that. Made me come.” My face feels like it’s on fire admitting all this. “My ex, Wesley, he wasn’t ever that good at it. He thought he was, which was a whole other thing too. I didn’t really have the heart to tell him that what he was doing didn’t really feel that good when he was hyping himself up so much.”

And it didn’t help that my sex drive was at an all-time low with the blockers I was on. Maybe Wesley would have had an easier time of it if it had been easier for me to climax, but after a while I just wanted to fake it to get it over with. I could have touched myself to fill in the gaps, but I just never really felt the need to.

Dominic makes a face and even Tristan rolls his eyes.

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