C&C

The Beauty of Experience - Chapter 26

Added 2022-10-30 23:11:12 +0000 UTC

Lena slept through two alarms until the blissful late hour of nine o’clock. When she woke, it wasn’t to the jarring noise of her phone, and it took her a moment to realize her breath was short and her thighs were slick and parted.

Beneath the covers, Kara moved between her legs, and Lena exhaled a raspy moan as she instinctively curled her fingers into her mate’s hair. She brought Kara’s mouth closer to the partition of her pussy lips and raised her knees at the first swipe of the alpha’s tongue.

Lena often woke Kara from sleep in her own raunchy way, and she was pleasantly surprised to find herself on the receiving end of it. They had discussed it in the past, and while Kara assured her she was amenable, this was the first time she had brazenly gone for it without waking Lena to double check if her advances would be welcome. Lena always emphatically insisted they were.

It made the horrible stress that bombarded them the first day melt away, and Lena was all for reclaiming their vacation by finding ways to make it special for them both.

“I knew you were fond of kissing first thing in the morning, but I didn’t realize to what extent,” Lena teased as she flung the covers off to see Kara’s handsome face framed by her pale thighs.

Kara’s tousled hair tickled her skin, and though her mate’s face was partially obscured by her pussy, Lena knew she was smiling.

She groaned at the quick flutters of confirmation against her clit, and raised her ass up to grind herself into Kara’s talented mouth.

“You must have been calling to me as you slept because I woke to you moaning my name,” Kara managed to inform her in between lavishing the little bud that ached to be sucked.

The pillowy suction of Kara’s lips lifted Lena’s pelvis and the swirl of her tongue mapped the heated circumference of Lena’s clit. The sensitive little peak throbbed for Kara, and the alpha was happy to soothe it with warm flicks.

“I’m not surprised our bond transcends our waking life. You really are the alpha of my dreams.” Lena rolled her hips to encourage Kara’s probing to delve into the wet clasp of her entrance. She shuddered at the devoted glide that pressed into the soft striations.

Kara’s oral skill never failed to render Lena breathless, and she shivered as her alpha snared her waist to tug her forward. She licked into Lena’s cunt as far as she could and moaned at the velvety clench of her chasm.

After the night they shared, Lena was tender inside and it aroused her to consider that Kara was likely tasting herself as well. She rocked into the partial thrusting with quiet gasps of excitement.

The sexual freedom of being with an alpha who enjoyed her so thoroughly still amazed Lena. She whimpered at the sudden intensity of Kara returning to her clit.

Kara sucked and hummed to send vibrations straight to her core.

Being lethargic from sleep kept Lena relaxed and the build-up of tension resulted
in the sweetest of releases.

She knew the orgasm was fast approaching from the way she writhed, uncoordinated and restless against the sheets as her body moved to Kara’s rhythm.

“Oh, keep going. Suck on it, just like that, don’t go faster,” Lena whimpered out orders while Kara followed them with precision, and her head fell back as bliss tightened her core and then flooded her system.

Kara waited for the moment that her cunt went into spasm before inserting two fingers to massage her thoroughly inside. The extra stimulation prolonged Lena’s climax, and her walls contracted around their girth as she shuddered to completion.

Lena anticipated more and opened her legs wantonly for them to continue their morning right there in bed. She pouted as Kara kissed her inner thighs and scooted up to nuzzle into her claims without ravaging her.

“We can continue after I feed you breakfast in bed,” Kara whispered against her petulant lower lip, and brushed her tongue across it before pushing into Lena’s mouth.

Lena sucked on the tip of Kara’s tongue to try and persuade her to stay instead.

The chance of it working diminished when her stomach betrayed her with a growl, and Kara pulled back to grin down at her tummy. “I knew you’d both be hungry, but I couldn’t leave without tasting you first.”

“You learned the hard way when we were interrupted on your birthday,” Lena fondly recalled, and slipped her hands over Kara’s broad shoulders to feel the warmth of her skin.

They shared another kiss, and then Kara reluctantly stood up and pulled on a pair of jeans and button-down shirt. She hesitated at the door and cast a longing glance to where Lena still lay on the bed with her knees open. It was all a ploy to give Kara the best view of the glossy sheen that still coated her pussy, and she waved her off with a gentle reminder to hurry.

Lena sulked in bed for five minutes by herself and she would have remained there if a few sharp knocks hadn’t dragged her out of bed. She pulled on a silk robe while she had visions of Kara standing there with half the breakfast buffet in her arms. She wondered if the alpha had forgotten her key card in her rush.

“What’s the password?” Lena joked as she opened the door to discover her mate nowhere in sight.

Instead she was greeted with Sophia scrunching her nose in bewilderment. That sobered Lena out of her lustful haze and she blinked down at her daughter as she pushed her way inside the room.

“How would I know? We don’t have that kind of lock on our door,” Sophia muttered, thankfully unaware of the flirtatious banter that had been meant for Kara.

“I thought you were spending time with your mother. Has something happened?” Lena inquired immediately as she picked up on the way her middle child twisted her fingers and paced around the room.

Sophia was still too young to pick up on certain scents, though Lena flew into a blind panic and spritzed herself with a special perfume to neutralize the pheromones that lingered.

“Mom’s being weird with me,” Sophia complained and frowned in an effort to keep the emotion off of her face. “She says it’s not because I’m an omega, but I can tell it is.”

Lena experienced a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach and tried not to let it reflect in her voice as she imagined how her ex must have behaved.

“Weird in what way?” Lena asked and tried not to look alarmed as Sophia gazed about the dishevelled room.

Sophia cringed at the question and shrugged as she slumped forward like the weight of her tumultuous emotions were too much of a burden for her small frame. “Usually we talk about my grades and ambitions and Mathletes, but last night all we talked about were my classes.”

“That’s not far off from the usual,” Lena pointed out gently, in case her daughter was hyper-fixated on small details that seemed off due to her own panic of coming out as on omega.

“She didn’t care about the lessons,” Sophia sighed and rolled her eyes like that should have been obvious. “She wanted to know who was in the room with me. What percentage of my friends were alphas. She asked about Alison and then called someone to get a background check done, like she doesn’t know she’s been my friend for years. Then this morning she told me I should go to Grandma’s room and take Natty with me.”

Lena swallowed down the dread that tried to claw its way up her esophagus and focused on the hurt Sophia felt instead of the anger that she would soon be directing towards Andrea. She should have known that her ex wouldn’t be able to act normally around Sophia, and she blamed herself for even giving her the chance.

“Your mother is adjusting to the news. We’ve all known for a few months now, but it’s very fresh for her. I’m sure she’ll go back to normal when she’s processed everything.” Lena’s smile felt tense even to her own lips and her daughter shared a wary look with her that crushed her heart. She was already planning on confronting Andrea, though she couldn’t say that to Sophia because she would take it as a sign that her sire was disappointed about how she had presented.

Lena could see the build-up of tears in Sophia’s eyes and expected an outpouring of grievances—but then the door swung open and Kara walked in with an entire platter of fruits and dipping sauces.

“I hope you’re ready to get sticky, because I’m going to pour these all over you-”

Kara’s smile froze on her face as she picked up on the distressed scents in the room and realized Sophia was staring at her in confusion.

“Your fruits,” Kara blurted before the teen had a chance to pick up on what she had meant. She hurried over with the tray and offered it to both of them, but Sophia’s lip trembled.

Sophia brushed by Kara and ran out of the room so fast she almost knocked the whole breakfast over.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting her to be in here or I would have toned it down.” Kara’s apologetic pheromones tried to soothe Lena’s worry and she set the tray aside to pull her mate into her arms.

“She didn’t leave because of you. She’s upset because Andrea is treating her differently. I’m going to have to talk to her before she does anything else to traumatize Sophia.” Lena sighed and took solace in Kara’s arms for a selfishly long moment. She pulled back to get dressed, and Kara gave her space to collect her thoughts by volunteering to go feed Natty.

Lena found her family relaxing by the pool, except for Andy, who was helping herself to the breakfast spread.

Kara and Natty were paddling in the shallow end and Lillian and Bernardo were chatting on the sun lounges. Sophia sulked by herself, and Andrea sat at a table with a cup of coffee and furiously tapped away on her phone.

She made her way towards her oldest daughter and pretended to be interested in the food, despite the knots forming in her stomach.

Lena kept her voice hushed as she picked up a slice of pineapple and left it untouched on her plate as she needled Andy for details. “Sophia said your mother has been acting strangely, and I want your side of it before I speak with her about it.”

Andy paused mid chew and dropped the strawberry onto her plate to wipe at her mouth with the back of her hand. She pursed her lips thoughtfully as she glanced at her other mother and cryptically asked, “Do you remember when Natty was two, and Grandma had an emergency, so mom had to watch us?”

Lena furrowed her brows at the memory and tried to work out the significance of that terrible day when Lillian had frightened them all by thinking she was having a heart attack. It turned out to be terrible indigestion after one too many cocktails at the country club, and it took the girls weeks to recover from the scare.

“What does that have to do with how she’s behaving?” Lena asked and narrowed her eyes at Andy to stop her from beating around the bush.

“Mom was out of her depth then. She asked Natty questions like she was already my age. She expected Natty to explain what she needed, but she was still a toddler, and she would just make up half of the things she said.” Andy aimed obvious judgment at Andrea. She tried to loosen her jaw and unclenched her stance before her pheromones alerted her sire to how she was feeling, and leveled Lena with a look as if she expected her to get what she was implying.

“So, she was awkward last night,” Lena concluded and felt somewhat pacified that Andrea hadn’t outright mistreated Sophia. Though that was a low bar to set, and she chewed the inside of her lip as she stared at her ex. “Did she say anything in particular to upset your sister?”

“I mean, she was different around Sophia, so that was enough to upset her, but I don’t think it was intentional. She had this look on her face like she did when you asked her to change Natty’s diaper and left without showing her how.” Andy smirked at the obvious discomfort Andrea had shown, though it was short lived as she peered at Sophia sitting glumly by herself under the shade of an umbrella.

Andy drifted off towards her sister without another word, and Lena took the opportunity to head over to Andrea while her daughter was still distracted.

“For a certified genius, it’s unbelievable that you’re so incompetent when it comes to dealing with your own children,” Lena softly raged and sat down so that it appeared like they were trying to be civil to one another. “Sophia was practically in tears this morning. What the hell happened?”

A defensive musk wafted from Andrea, and she glared at Lena like there were plenty of things she wanted to say to her face. She eyed their daughters and apparently thought better of it, though they both knew the minute there were no witnesses, they were likely to have an explosive argument.

“Nothing,” Andrea gritted out and sucked on her teeth as she set her phone aside to lift her cup of coffee. “We exchanged pleasantries and I inquired about her life–”

“She’s your daughter, not a business acquaintance,” Lena snapped, already furious with the pompous and aloof way Andrea was trying to distance herself from Sophia. “Did you grill her on who she was texting?”

Andrea’s eyes darkened and she craned her neck to see if Sophia was on her phone as she hissed protectively, “I showed appropriate concern over who she was interacting with and established that her friend wasn’t worthy of her time.”

“You mean you found out Alison presented as an alpha and immediately interrogated Sophia about her. Did you forget that you’ve met this girl at several school events and birthday parties?” Lena scoffed and resisted the urge to kick her ex-wife under the table for acting every bit the hypocrite she knew her to be.

“I saw some of the texts and I don’t like her,” Andrea retorted with all the finesse of a moody teenager. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and set her cup of coffee down with a clatter as she leaned toward Lena and exhaled incredulously, “What thirteen-year-old asks her friend if her nails are painted and if they would still like to hold hands?”

“At thirteen, you were trying to give me bracelets with your initials on them,” Lena stressed through clenched teeth.

The audacity of Andrea feeling any type of way about something as innocent as hand holding when she had been so territorial at Sophia’s age was laughable.

Andrea straightened up with a derisive grunt and flicked her lashes cattily at Lena as she fixed the cuffs of her suit jacket. “That’s because I had class.”

Lena’s lip curled over her teeth as she stuck her chin out. She would have torn Andrea a new one if her ex hadn’t immediately launched into a rant.

“This girl’s parents run some kind of restaurant business, and she’s been holding hands with another girl,” Andrea listed both facts as if they were equally offensive, and it took Lena a second to realize this was her ex’s own parental instincts trying to kick-in an entire decade too late. “She’s not a good fit for Sophia’s inner circle.”

“That’s for Sophia to decide,” Lena shrewdly pointed out as Andrea’s natural tendency of being overbearing threatened to reach a new level. “You can’t dictate who she sees as a friend, or anything else for that matter.”

Their hushed bickering threatened to become louder as the intensity of Andrea’s pheromones strengthened. She was seconds away from pulling her rank as sire and Lena hardened her jaw as she waited for the barrage of vitriol that would be spat in her direction.

Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, though it had nothing to do with Andrea finding a reserve of self-control.

Bernardo’s presence calmed them into a hateful silence as he approached, and he looked between them suspiciously as if he could read the animosity between them.

“What are you two discussing so intensely while the rest of the family is enjoying this beautiful day?” Bernardo asked, pointedly staring at Andrea, as if he suspected the tension all stemmed from her after the bitter argument they had yesterday.

It was telling that Andrea couldn’t look him in the eye. Her own shame hung heavy enough around her to keep her chin tucked to her chest, even though her lip curled in anger.

Lena was so accustomed to being the buffer between them that she placated Bernardo by uttering a half truth. “Sophia and her schooling.”

Andrea accepted the momentary truce by raising her chin to glance at her father with her usual arrogance. “Now that Andy’s no longer at DC prep, Sophia is going to find her own footing there.”

“Have you told them?” Lillian asked as she crept over like she had been hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation.

The peculiar smile on her mother’s lips didn’t go unnoticed, and Andrea shared the same look of concern as they both stared at their respective parents in silent horror.

“Told us what?” Lena pressed so forcefully that it came out like an accusation. She cringed at the sound of her own voice and caught Andrea’s offended scent as she came to the same conclusions when Bernardo straightened up to smile at Lillian.

“I was just getting to that,” Bernardo laughed, and turned to the pair of them as he motioned towards his grandchildren. “Having everyone here has granted us the perfect opportunity to spoil the children and show off the beautiful scenery. We’d like to take the girls out for the day.”

Lena considered refusing just for the sake of keeping everyone together. She pinched her brows together thoughtfully as an idea popped into her head. With their daughters gone for the day, she could speak candidly with her ex and ensure that Andrea wouldn’t make more parenting mistakes on their trip. If it came down to it, they could also fight without any witnesses, and that was reason enough for Lena to nod along with Bernardo’s plan.

“Of course.”

She sensed that her mother saw the murder in her eyes, but both Andrea and her father were oblivious.

“If you’re going to take the girls, that means I can make a few calls,” Andrea intoned and began scrolling through emails on her business phone.

Lena removed the iPhone from Andrea’s hands and passed it off to Bernardo. “Can we put this away somewhere until the end of the trip?”

Bernardo smiled and accepted the device without consulting his daughter. “I have a safe in my suite. I’ll just go put this away and then we’ll round up the girls for today’s outing.”

Lillian smirked at the irritation on Andrea’s face and patted Lena’s arm. “Try to have a nice day here with Kara. We’ll meet up for dinner later. Or maybe some afternoon tea. Did I use that word in the correct context?”

Andy must have been teaching her grandmother slang, and Lena tried not to let her amusement shift her focus as she nodded to her mother. She hawkishly kept her gaze trained on Andrea and muttered under her breath, “Have fun with the girls. We’ll be right here if you need us.”

The implication that Andrea wouldn’t be going anywhere brought her ex’s sharp eyes up, and Lena could smell her ire before Bernardo walked off with Lillian in tow.

Kara gravitated towards them as the kids gathered around the grandparents in excitement. Natty seemed the most enthused, though there was clear relief on Sophia’s face that she wouldn’t be hanging around her sire for a few hours. It pained Lena to see the way her middle child actively tried to hide behind Andy instead of boldly being front and center as usual.

“If you think having my father confiscate my phone like some teenage delinquent will keep me tethered to this place, then your mind is slipping just as fast as your looks,” Andrea hissed with a scathing once-over of Lena as she stood up. She stuck her chin into the air solely to stare down her nose at Kara and postured like she wouldn’t flinch if Kara came too close.

Months ago, any remark about her dwindling youth would have crushed Lena and caused a severe bout of paranoia, but with Kara’s pup growing inside her she knew it wasn’t reflective of the truth. It was just another weak attempt to undermine her self-worth and this time Andrea’s vitriol didn’t work.

Lena stood taller as she got to her feet and made no attempt to hide her amorous scent as Kara slipped her hand onto her waist to pull her closer.

The knowledge that her ex still wanted her and found her attractive in spite of her asinine remarks was a powerful feeling—and not because she wanted Andrea back. It robbed Andrea of the upper hand, and Lena flaunted that along with her chest as she inhaled deeply.

“Blow it out your ass, Andrea,” Lena spat aggressively, now that she was free to speak without being overheard by the children. “For once you’re going to have to suck it up and act like an adult, because I’m not going to sit back and idly watch you destroy our child.”

“I’m not destroying Sophia,” Andrea announced incredulously and with a bewildered, almost wounded look on her face. “I’m treating her–”

“Like every other omega that’s been in your life?” Kara guessed with a lazy roll of her shoulder. It wasn’t really a shrug so much as a statement of how she saw Andrea as incapable of being anything other than self-absorbed.

Lena was inclined to agree with her mate's assessment. She was prepared to list all the ways in which Andrea had failed at being a parent by holding such traditionally toxic views of alpha superiority.

“Stay out of this,” Andrea snarled as she pointed her finger in Kara’s face like she would like to slap her. “This is between us, and you have no right to butt in.”

Andrea seemed to have forgotten how fast she had been laid on her ass the last time she provoked Kara like that.

Lena sighed at her theatrics and pushed her hand away. “She has every right. That’s why we’re filing for Kara to become a legal guardian to our pups.”

Andrea’s disgust was potent though unable to completely override her unmistakable stench of devastation. She tried to appear extra aggressive by squaring her shoulders and balling her fists, as if it would counter whatever emotions happened to lie beneath the surface of her grimace. “I told you I would never allow that. Kara has already knocked you up. She doesn’t need my kids when you’re busy making your own.”

“I think we just won bitter ex bingo,” Kara joked before Andrea’s resentment threatened to ruin Lena’s mood. She looked completely at ease as she glanced down at Lena with a small smile and released her own pheromones to block out Andrea’s vile stench.

“Is this a joke to you?” Andrea demanded, her sculpted brows forming a dark and brooding line as she settled her attention on Kara with a fair amount of malice.

“No, but you are. What do you think’s going to happen if you petition the court to try and block this?” Kara retorted as she dropped her hand from Lena’s hip to tower over Andrea. “You’ve been legally separated for over four years. Lena is wearing my claim on her throat and she’s carrying my pup. We live in the same house and Andy just moved back in. In what world is any judge going to deny me the right to parent the kids that I’m already helping to raise?”

“You think fucking my ex-wife makes you qualified to parent my children?” Andrea scoffed, as if Kara didn’t already meet the requirements and then some. “I have enough resources to bury you both in court.”

“And who will suffer for that?” Kara barked, startling Andrea with the sudden fierceness she displayed by getting into her personal space. “You keep throwing the kids in our face, but if you really gave a damn about them, you wouldn’t put them through that.”

“I’m not the one hiding information here,” Andrea raged, and refused to budge an inch as she met Kara head on and dared to sneer up at her like she might just make their fight physical. “Neither of you informed me that Sophia presented. You both denied me that knowledge, and for what? To play happy family while you ostracized me from my own blood? You should have told me the minute it happened.”

The deplorable scent of Andrea’s anger mixed with the delectable scent of Kara’s protective musk. Lena found it hard to breathe as she clasped the back of Kara’s shirt to silently plea for this not to turn into something brutal. She sighed in relief when her alpha exhaled and took a step back to de-escalate the situation before it was too late, and for a brief moment, Lena admired Kara’s restraint and the bulge of her biceps as she crossed her arms.

“Have you ever stopped to wonder why we didn’t tell you?” Lena directed her question to Andrea before her ex could hurl out an insult.

It seemed to stall her as she blinked in confusion.

“Sophia has spent her whole life looking up to me,” Andrea argued in her own self-defense.

Kara stepped in to point out the consequences of Andrea’s actions. “Sophia also observed how you treated her mother and every other omega you’ve paraded in front of her since your separation.”

Lena frowned severely and segued into an immediate explanation. “Sophia idolizes you so much that the second she knew she wasn’t an alpha, she locked herself in her bedroom and wouldn’t come out because she was afraid of how you would react. She’s been wearing a scent masker at school for weeks.”

“Weeks?” Andrea echoed in shaken disbelief.

“Yesterday was the first time she chose to stop wearing it,” Lena whispered with a deep fear that her daughter might slip back into the habit. “Now Sophia’s confidence is shaken because you’re acting weird around her–”

“It’s not my fault, you should have told me!” Andrea shouted with disdain. “Or at least warned me in advance, so that I could brace myself!”

“Can you fucking hear yourself?” Lena shrieked, losing her cool in the face of dealing with her ex’s inability to take on any of the blame. “I shouldn’t have to warn you that your daughter has presented! You should just be happy for her and embrace the fact that she’s growing up. I know that must be hard, since you have yet to reach maturity yourself.”

“It’s not about happiness!” Andrea blustered and flared her nostrils as she raised her voice. “I expected Sophia to be an alpha so I could pass down advice, and knowledge, and guide her into the family business, because I know Andy has no interest in it! Andy has never wanted to follow in my footsteps, no matter how hard I try to encourage it. Yes, she has the mind for it if she applies herself – but Sophia? She has the same drive I do, and she has the ability to be an extraordinary leader. She’s hungry for it.”

“So, she’s not a total clone of you,” Lena spat furiously, unwilling to understand Andrea’s logic. “What difference does it make? You can still guide her in life, you moron. Sophia wants that. Now explain to me why you told her to take Natty to my mother’s room this morning?”

Andrea raised her eyebrows and expressed her discomfort by ranting. “She started asking me questions! Why do omegas get claimed, but alphas don’t? Why do omegas get paid less for the same jobs? What age do most omegas enter their first heat? Will her opinions matter less in class now that she’s an omega? How the fuck do I answer that?”

“With honesty,” Lena hissed from waning patience. “For once in your life, answer our daughter’s questions with honesty and respect.”

“If it were that simple you think I wouldn’t have done that?” Andrea asked in exasperation.

Kara squared her jaw and bristled at Andrea’s complaints. “For someone who brags about thriving under pressure and pushing the boundaries of technology, you shouldn’t find it difficult to have a serious conversation with your daughter.”

Lena wonder if her children would ever be able to communicate with their sire. She didn’t want to make Andrea feel cornered, but she needed to advocate for her kids.

“It’s not your world that’s turning upside down, Andrea,” Lena muttered and lifted her eyes to stare at the scared alpha in front of her. “It’s Sophia’s, and she’s looking at you for the unconditional love and support that every parent is meant to have for their children.”

Andrea pursed her lips and continued to speak to Lena in the same defensive tone of voice. “Why would Sophia ever doubt that I love her unconditionally? I give her everything I can.”

This time it was Kara who fielded Andrea’s questions. She shook off some the tension she was visibly harboring and stopped crossing her arms.

“Far be it from me to educate your insufferable ass, Andrea, but throwing money around doesn’t equate to showing genuine interest and emotion. Sophia doesn’t need the latest laptop or a prototype of yours. She needs her sire to accept how she presented and take an active role in navigating her through her teen years.”

Lena sensed that their argument was going to get worse before they reached any resolutions. She didn’t behave vindictively, or even raise her voice above a whisper, but she was cutting and honest. “Everyone has different parenting styles. Yours have been absent for most of our daughters’ lives, but it’s not too late to step up and be the alpha Sophia has always imagined you were.”

Andrea scoffed at her instead of taking any of those suggestions to heart. “Fuck both of you for thinking I’m less than capable of being there for my own kids. So what if I didn’t cook them a meal or read them a bedtime story? It doesn’t make me a terrible parent.”

“Oh, it absolutely does,” Lena brutally insisted. “You couldn’t even do the bare minimum and you still don’t, but miraculously our children didn’t grow up with your callous personality.”

“That’s because you raised them,” Kara intoned and returned to folding her arms.

Lena knew she couldn’t hold back any punches, not just because Andrea didn’t deserve mercy, but because her children would suffer if she didn’t get through to her ex now.

“The point is, most parents don’t get a second chance to fix their fuck ups when it comes to their kids, and you’ve had an abundance of chances that you’ve wasted over the years.” Lena paused as she delivered her ultimatum, which wasn’t even born out of a need for vengeance. “This is your last one, Andrea. I don’t say that because I’m planning to cut you out of their lives. Andy and Sophia are both older now. They won’t forgive you the way Natty still does, and even she is growing so fast. Don’t you get that? If you don’t make the effort now, you’re going to regret it later. By then, the girls will want nothing to do with you and the only one to blame for it will be yourself.”

If that speech didn’t influence Andrea’s behavior going forward, then nothing would change her. Lena walked off in a daze, thinking of her girls and how all of this would affect their future.

Kara ushered her away from the side of the pool and back into the hotel, and Lena carried herself with poise through the halls. She hated the confrontation, and at the same time felt like she accomplished a lot without total bloodshed. Andrea could take some time to reflect before their kids returned for dinner.

“I don’t know if I did any good back there,” Lena sighed and tapped the button on the elevator for their floor.

“Time will tell, but from where I was standing? I think you got through to her.” Kara placed her hand on Lena’s lower back and guided her into the elevator while releasing calming pheromones.

Lena inhaled them deeply and leaned against Kara on the ride up. “I hope you’re right about that, because this is the end of the line for her. I might have put up with her shit for years, but the girls won’t. They shouldn’t have to deal with any of this.”

She thought she had been doing the right thing by not cutting Andrea out of her life, but she started to wonder if it would have been the better option. It wouldn’t have been easy, and no court ever granted an omega full custody, unless they could prove the alpha was an unfit parent. Despite all of that, Lena wasn’t certain she could continue lecturing her ex for the rest of their lives.

“This might be the shake-up she’s needed, Lena,” Kara imparted softly and looped her arm through Lena’s as they moved down the hall to their room. “For once it’s not a case of you versus her. It’s about Andrea coming to terms with the fact that she’s been a terrible role model and parent. If she wants to repair her relationship with the kids, then she’ll need to put in the work for it.”

“In the meantime, at least Sophia can come to you when she has questions about alphas.”

Lena tugged Kara in for a kiss and poured all of her love and gratitude into the slow brushing of their lips. She wanted to spend the morning with Kara, and she pulled back with a smile on her face as she mentally mapped out their day.

“I’m going to have a bath. I didn’t even have the chance to shower this morning. Join me?” Lena raised a suggestive eyebrow as she swiped them back into the suite.

She headed straight into the large bathroom and turned on the faucet to fill the jet tub. Since her hair didn’t need to be washed, she tied it into a high bun.

Kara entered after her, and they both played it coy without initiating any physical contact. Lena washed her face and brushed her teeth at the sink while Kara poured out the bubble bath.

Steam began to rise and swirl as the water ran, and sweet smells drifted around the bathroom. Lena watched her mate begin to strip off in the mirror, flirtatiously slow and deliberate so as not to show off too much at once.

The detriment of staring was moaning around a mouthful of foamy toothpaste, and Lena was quick to spit and rinse before her mate caught sight of her messy chin.

They exchanged places with sly little smiles, and Lena admired Kara’s ass in her boxers while she unwrapped herself like a gift in the background.

She knew Kara’s eyes were on her from the intensity of how she brushed her teeth, and she heard the low groan from her mate as she popped open the clasp of her bra to free the swell of her breasts.

Lena cupped them in her palms to soothe their ache, but mostly to tease Kara as she rolled her nipples between her forefingers and thumbs.

The fragrance of their arousal carried through the mist and the Lena waited for Kara to face her before hooking her thumbs into the slim band of her panties.

She removed them sensually, bending all the way down before stepping out of them to reveal the glossy shine of slick that remained on the fabric.

Kara’s boxer briefs looked terribly restricting after that, and Lena smirked at the way her mate proudly kept her hands on her hips to make sure she noticed.

They never said a word as Lena turned off the faucet and stepped into the warm water, and her anticipation rose along with the bubbles as she fully submerged herself.

Kara waited until Lena reclined comfortably, and then shucked down her underwear to finally join her in the tub, fully erect.

“I don’t think we’ve ever bathed together like this, at least not at our leisure,” Lena mused as her mate sank into the blissful warmth and stretched out with a groan.

She brushed her feet across Kara’s inner thighs and coquettishly blinked at her mate through heavy lashes.

“This might be my new favorite thing to do with you,” Kara whispered, slipping her palms along Lena’s calves to massage the muscles. It was intimate without being overtly sexual, even though they both knew where this was going.

Lena reclined with her neck against the cushioned headrest and indulged in Kara’s touch. She placed her palm against the bites on her throat, tracing her fingers over each one. Her tits peeked above the bubbles with her calmer inhalations, and as she began rubbing each supple swell, she knew Kara’s patience would soon dwindle.

Kara moved her leg up and positioned it over the side of the tub, then slipped closer to kiss her.

“What else do you like to do with me?” Lena whispered against the curve of Kara’s neck, causing goosebumps to rise. “Maybe you can demonstrate.”

Kara accepted the invitation by sliding her hands up to Lena’s tits and manipulating them with a firm grip.

Lena reciprocated with the barest encouragement from Kara, who clasped her wrists to guide her.

It wasn’t often that Lena got to indulge this side of Kara, and she moaned into her mate’s mouth as she squeezed and thumbed at Kara’s nipple.

The sensual give and take brought them closer, and Lena reclined into the tub to allow Kara more space to get comfortable between her thighs.

She whimpered from the glide of Kara’s lips following the line of her jaw and gasped as her mate kissed at her claims.

Every soft pucker against those sensitive marks raised Lena’s pelvis, and Kara reached for her backside to pull her half onto her lap.

She settled into a spread that trapped Kara’s shaft between her smooth and slippery pussy lips, and they rocked together for the sweet friction it created.

For the first time weeks, they caressed one another without rushing, luxuriating in the gift of time to fully appreciate one another instead of going at it hard and fast.

The change of pace felt romantic, and Lena groaned as Kara pushed into the warmth of her entrance with the head of her cock.

“Share breath with me,” Kara whispered into her mouth, and pressed her forehead against Lena’s as she rolled her pelvis to partially slot into her.

The flutters inside Lena’s cunt strengthened as she obeyed Kara’s commands. She was surprised to find that she didn’t laugh as she exhaled while staring into her mate’s expressive eyes. Instead she wound her arms tighter around Kara’s shoulders for leverage.

“Have you been reading about new positions, or are testing me to see how long it takes before I become feral?” Lena’s sultry question brought a grin to Kara’s face.

Kara cupped her between the thighs to stroke the pad of her thumb across her clit.

“Neither? Our lives have been pretty hectic lately and I wanted to take my time with you,” Kara supplied with a bashful glance to Lena’s tits. She brushed her mouth across Lena’s nipple and flicked at the aching bud before sucking on it with a throaty noise of appreciation. She released it when Lena’s nails dug into her back and her chest heaved.

Kara slowed down the whorls against Lena's clit and groaned at the indignant contractions that tried to pull her cock in deeper.

Lena gyrated to push the thickest part of Kara’s cock into the heated clutch of her cunt.

Kara controlled how much she took with careful undulations, and Lena pleaded to be stretched with salacious moans.

“Can you feel how wet I am in this tub, Kara? Or should we take this to the bedroom so you can fully appreciate what you do to me?”

It seemed like such a great idea until she experienced the loss of Kara. She whined pitifully at being empty and pouted at the unfairness of it all while Kara climbed out of the tub to gather her into a fluffy towel.

She imagined Kara positioning her back on her lap the moment they reached the bed, and maybe bouncing on her solid length while she held onto the headboard to ride.

Kara evidently had other ideas and placed Lena on a chair meant for the vanity, and then made herself comfortable on the bed.

“If you want my cock, Lena, you better start by showing me you can take it.”

The rigid heft of Kara’s shaft tapered down to the thick onset of a knot and Kara handled it while Lena watched. The boldness of her alpha excited Lena into shamelessly parting her thighs. She rested her feet on the wooden rungs of the chair to present the blushing shimmer of her soaked pussy.

“See how much I need you?” Lena breathlessly uttered and spread her fingers through the thick gloss of her arousal.

She coated her cunt in the fragrant scent of her desire and pushed her labia apart, flaunting the spasm of her entrance.

Kara stroked her cock with one hand and palmed at her knot to make it swell to an incredible size.

Lena looked on in envy and pushed two fingers into her pussy to massage the hidden ripples. She began to thrust at the same speed as Kara’s quick wrist action.

“I need you in here, Kara. Only your cock can stretch me.” Lena curled her fingers to pump deeper, and the sound was lewd and erotic. “Are you going to give me it now, or do I have to earn the right to feel you rutting my cunt wide open?”

“What would that involve?” Kara asked and stood to position Lena over the bed. She kept Lena’s feet on the ground and gently smacked at her cunt with her full palm just to hear the way Lena moaned for the contact.

“You could use my mouth as much as you want—”

Lena gasped as Kara smacked her between the thighs in playful punishment.

“I can do that anyway,” Kara gloated, though she made no attempt to tangle her hand in Lena’s hair to bring her mouth onto her cock. “No, I want something more valuable than that.”

The teasing banter brought a smirk to Lena’s lips and she glanced over her shoulder with a raised brow as she caught up to the game her mate was playing. She bit her lip as she pretended she had no idea what Kara wanted.

“Are you going to tell me?” Lena asked and glanced at the beading lust all over the tip of Kara’s cock.

“I want to fill your womb every chance I get,” Kara boasted and dominated the room with her tall presence and alpha musk.

“That’s a lot to ask for some good dick,” Lena rasped after a moment and grunted as Kara lunged forward to plunge into her exceptionally wet pussy.

“I’m the best you’ve ever had and you know it’s worth it.” Kara slid her hands up Lena’s waist as she began to thrust in earnest.

The fast smack of against her pelvis jolted Lena forward and she tangled her fingers in the sheets and backed into Kara.

This was the kind of sex she craved with her mate, and while going slow kept their love kindled, nothing compared to feeling Kara’s unrestrained desire.

Whines fell from Lena’s parted lips, and she writhed into the bed at the first strum of Kara’s fingers against her clit.

There was no concealing her own arousal, or how her omega submitted entirely to the plans Kara laid out for their future. Despite how often they discussed having more children, it stirred the unrelenting urge to offer up her cunt.

She presented while Kara mounted her more by kneeling on the bed. Lena forgot how to breathe as the powerful penetration pinned her down.

Bliss prickled her sweat slicked skin and she felt tension in her core as Kara threaded her fingers into her hair and bit at her neck where no claims resided.

The fresh sting quickened her pulse and her inner muscles contracted in excitement as Kara marked her with bites that wouldn’t break the skin.

She craned back to grant Kara access to the pristine slope of her throat. It quivered as Kara growled into her ear and she worked her slickened velvet in a warm pulsation over Kara’s girth.

“You could leave your mark all over me with how prone I am beneath you,” Lena whimpered, alarmed by the enthusiasm of her omega at the mere thought of Kara’s teeth sinking into her again.

She trusted her mate wouldn’t be so excessive or territorial, although part of her wondered what everyone would think if a third mark appeared on her neck.

“I don’t need to do that for everyone to know you’re mine. They’ll know in a few weeks anyway.” The little reminder prompted Kara to move her palm across Lena’s abdomen and the barrage of thrusts kept Lena soaked between the thighs.

Protective scents mingled with the rich aroma of their love, and Lena cried out in ecstasy as the swollen knot-base forced her inner lips to spread.

Kara groaned into Lena’s hairline as she bucked, her desperation to merge overcoming her own sensibilities as she pistoned harder to slot herself through Lena’s constricting spasms.

The bliss of it struck before her knot took hold, and the outpouring of seed eased the magnificent bulge into the deep inner crevice of Lena’s pussy.

Lena was practically incoherent as throb after throb pulsed up Kara’s shaft and filled her at an incredible rate. She knew her alpha wasn’t due a rut any time soon, and it amazed her to be given so much all at once.

“God, if it wasn’t clear that you love me, it certainly is now,” Lena gasped and cupped her sensitive, knot-stuffed pussy to rub the excess seed that tried to trickle out as Kara adjusted them on the bed.

Lena relaxed into her mate as Kara spooned her. She flashed a smile and laughed breathlessly from Kara pecking her on the cheek.

They remained right there for almost twenty minutes, nuzzling and kissing as if it were their first time joined together.

They were precariously close to dozing when Kara’s phone dinged with several consecutive texts.

Lena reached for it with a horrible lurching feeling that something was wrong with the girls and blinked down at the screen in confusion.

“Kara, who is this?” Lena asked after a moment, her eyes still dancing across the texts with growing unease.

I can’t stop thinking about you, and how you’re doing.

I know you hate it when I say this, but I miss you.

Can we please meet up?

The cozy love nest they had made together became cold the minute Kara reached over her shoulder to take her phone out of Lena’s hand.

“Nobody,” Kara muttered without explaining and got up to stride into the bathroom.

“What do you mean nobody?”

Dread squeezed at Lena’s ribcage, and a wave of nausea hit her in the gut.

This was the first time Kara had ever lied to her, and she prayed it was the last.