Oliver shuddered at the thought of Yolanda taking the three and a half hour drive to the city. She’d overheat, not to mention the lingering sick smell from when they’d rescued Pember. God, she deserved a medal.Poor girl.
“N-No. I guess this’ll be fine. But you really make me feel poor, you know?”
Lucas smirked, sticking out the tip of his tongue. “Wait until you meet my parents.”
Oliver recountedthe day’s revelations to the alpha, before promptly falling asleep somewhere between Sheffield and Nottingham. He only woke when he felt a gentle tickling sensation under his ear.
“W-Wha?” He mumbled, wiping saliva off his chin.
Lucas gave him a soft smile. “I said we’re here.”
“Oh. Oh shit, was I asleep that whole time?”
Lucas nodded, rubbing the pad of his thumb across Oliver’s cheek. “You were talking in your sleep a lot. Something about pussy pumps and knot crushers. I thought about waking you up, but you look knackered.”
Oliver grimaced. He felt like he’d run a marathon. Whilst hungover. In ill-fitting wellington boots.
“Shit. Sorry. I must be more tired than I realised.”
And then they were standing in the lift to Lucas’ apartment. The high rise building was in far better shape than Oliver’s block of flats. The communal hallways were extremely tidy for one thing, and the tenants had little hanging baskets outside their front doors.
“I feel like I’ve stepped into the twilight zone,” Oliver said, eyeing a stone lion as it sat proudly on someone’s doorstep. “Where everyone actually cares about what their neighbours think, and people have time to spend on the upkeep of their front doors.”
Lucas nodded as he tapped an electronic card to a digital pad next to his own door. Number two hundred and twenty-six. “You’re not wrong,” he said, pushing the door handle. “You’ll find yourself with a fine if the maintenance company thinks you’re dropping below a certain standard. I left a pair of muddywalking boots outside the door once, only to be hit with a one hundred and twenty pound bill.”
Oliver’s mouth hung open. “That’s outrageous.”
“I agree.”
Lucas’ apartment was not unlike Oliver’s—clean, minimal, no clutter in the communal rooms. Except where Olivers’ kitchen had chipboard worktops, Lucas’ had granite. And where Oliver had a tiny white fridge that sounded like a space rocket, Lucas had a sleek American fridge freezer packed to the brim with ingredients Oliver didn’t even recognise. Not to mention the ice machine. Or the friendly robotic voice that alerted you every time the temperature rose above three degrees.
“Can this thing calculate my overtime?” He asked, drinking from a glass of water he’d just poured from the fridge door. A true novelty.
Lucas shrugged as he slid the glass from between his fingers, took a sip, and placed it down on the countertop. “I’m sure there’s a setting for that,” he said, wrapping his hands around Oliver’s waist and pulling him against his body.
Oliver sighed as the stress of the day poured away at the sound of Lucas’ steadily beating heart. The alpha had given him zero time between knocking on his front door and ushering him into the car. Which was probably wise, because in the three and a half hours Oliver awaited his arrival, he’d contemplated backing out multiple times. Lucas grunted as he held him tighter, breath hot in his hair. And then his hands were sliding all over Oliver’s top half, not groping, just… touching.
“Excuse me,” Oliver said, pulling his head away from the alpha’s chest. “Why do I feel like you’re frisking me? Are you worried I’ve stolen something?”
Lucas only grunted again as he lifted Oliver off his feet and carried him into the darkened bedroom. Placing him on the massive bed, he stripped them both out of their clothes withouta word. Then Lucas shifted into wolf form, the bed creaking and dipping as the alpha’s massive canine weight pressed down on the mattress. If Oliver felt small in the Lucas’ embrace before, he felt fucking minuscule then.
He was about to shift into his sandy wolf form when Lucas started running his cold nose over every inch of his body. Oliver squirmed. It didn’t feel sexual, and it wasn’t quite the same slow process as scent marking. But by the time Lucas shifted back and their faces drew level again, he looked utterly confused.
“If you’re trying to get me in the mood, you needn’t be so heavy-handed,” Oliver said, running his fingers across Lucas’ shoulders.
The alpha only nuzzled into his neck, shoving them both up the bed until Oliver’s head patted against the pillows. “You smell different,” he said. “I thought so in the car, but—” Dipping his head again, he ran his mouth over the mating mark. Oliver shivered from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
“W-Well, it’s not surprising,” he panted, as a deep flush crept up his chest. “I’ve been squirrelled away in the police station for three days. Plus, I stayed at Matty’s last night.”
“It’s not that,” Lucas huffed, turning him over again. Curling his forearm around Oliver’s body, he pressed his tongue into every divot of his spine. “It’s sweeter. I can’t explain it.” Oliver let out a soft laugh as Lucas’ nose nudged the two dimples nestled in the curve of his lower back.
“Well, I won’t lie—I’ve consumed my body weight in cake since you left. Matty’s been trying out his new airfryer and—Oh.” He shuddered as Lucas’ mouth pressed into his crease. “A-And y-you wouldn’t believe how many—Ah.” The alpha’s tongue swept over his hole with long, hot strokes. His lips kissed and caressed the delicate skin of his undercarriage, before moving to the backs of his thighs. It drew out a sultry sound from deep within Oliver’s throat. “T-The cupcakes were?—”
“Reed, are you still talking about the airfryer?” Lucas murmured, flipping them over so Oliver was straddling his hips. Oliver snorted, leaning down to press a string of small kisses across his chest.
“Yes. I was. But it seems you’re not interested in hearing about my culinary exploits.”
Lucas’ expression softened. “I’m more than happy for you to tell me all about how you and your brother nearly set fire to the kitchen.”
